-Rise of The Guardians 2: Where There Is Light
by Half-MoonProductions
Summary: Dark times are arriving and MIM has decided to call on help from the three most powerful entities in the spirit world: Geoff Ramsey, Burnie Burns, and Joel Heyman. With their power there just might be a future around the corner; but where there is light there is darkness, and the return of the very embodiment of evil may make things a little difficult. (Full summary inside)
1. Description

A matter of great importance has come to Manny's attention: Darkness is rising and ancient evil spirits who have hidden in the shadows for centuries have come out of hiding and are amassing an army. To prevent the destruction of this world and the next, Manny has called upon extra help for the Guardians of Childhood. The big three, the most powerful spirits in existence: Grim Reaper Geoff Ramsey, as well as Burnie Burns:God, and Joel Heyman:Satan, have all been inducted into the front lines of the oncoming war. The Guardians as well as Geoff are sent out to other worlds to find those who have been deemed worthy by Manny to join their ranks as a Guardian. However, There is an alternative goal set by the big three: to recruit strong spirits into a separate faction who aren't bound by the rules of the Guardians. But where there is light there lies darkness, and the resurrection of an ancient evil might just bring about the end as they know it. (Achievement Hunter multi xover) GeoffxHarem


	2. Prologue: Where There Is Light

**Okay before we start i just want you guys to know this is my very first fanfiction story. I'm planning on this being a long one so sit down and enjoy the ride! Please post constructive criticisms, comments, likes, dislikes, etc. and I'll try to get to all of them. Enjoy the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any works shows, movies, cartoons, ect. that are featured in this story. All credit goes to the original creators.**

**Original cover art can be found here: ** art/RT-achieveMEN-338117168 (**I do not own this either, but this will be the style of the characters)**

...

She only showed up once a year. Every year on his 'birthday' (what he had started to call the day he became Jack Frost), she would come to his lake with a bouquet of assorted wildflowers. She would weep as she placed the flowers on the edge of his lake, kneeling in the snow as she cried out that it was her fault; for what Jack didn't know. When she would finish she would wipe her face free of tears, stand up and stumble back to the nearby village. She continued to show up every year, bouquet of wildflowers in hand; and she would cry.

He liked to pretend that the little girl was coming for him; that he had known her before he was Jack Frost and she came to mourn him. It was a silly notion he knew, he wasn't anyone before he was Jack Frost, and there were probably dozens of people who had drowned in this godforsaken lake. But it made the loneliness a little more bearable.

As the years went by, he noticed that she seemed to look more and more haggard and worn down every time she visited. It was after about the third time she visited that he followed her back to the village and continued to do so unnoticed, watching her go about her everyday business. She would go around the town doing odd jobs, from throwing out the cuttings from the butcher shop to cleaning up around pubs. Jack could tell she wasn't getting paid much by the frown on her face whenever she was handed the meager amount of coins from each job. Sometimes the people hiring her would give her a sorrowful look and hand her a few extra coins out of pity. In the afternoon she would head back to what he guessed was her home; a cozy cottage a little ways away from the hustle and bustle of the small town.

Jack followed her through the front door and to a room near the back of the small house. He soon realized why this little girl, who couldn't possibly be older than thirteen was working so many jobs all at once. Lying in the bed was a fairly young woman, maybe in her twenties or thirties, but she looked severely ill. The girl would tend to her, feeding her and bathing her (something that he didn't stay to watch) and then was out the door again to go back to work.

A he watched her go, he made a decision to give this girl needed a little hope in her dreary life. "Sorry Bunnymund" he thought, "Looks like I'm gonna have to do your job for you.". And with that he flew out the open window and back into the woods.

He glided back to his home by the lake. Well, home wasn't the best way to describe it; it was pretty much just a tree that he slept in at night. He flew up to a little hole in the trunk and pulled out the latest bouquet of flowers the girl had dropped off. Getting to work quickly he began to weave the stems together into a small flower crown. After a few hours he had completely finished it, a beautiful array of colorful flowers with a few additions by himself. He flew back to the house and placed it on the small kitchen table in the center of the cottage and waited for the girl to return home.

When she did return home it was nearly 9:00 at night, and Jack could tell she was exhausted by the way she dragged her feet. When she saw the wreath of flowers she just stared for a while. One minute went by, two minutes; and finally she yelled in excitement. She grabbed the crown and raced back to the room where her mother lay. Jack could hear her excited chattering as he flew off into the night with a smile on his face.

This ritual of sorts continued for many years, she would bring him flowers and by the end of the day she would find a brand new beautiful woven crown atop the kitchen table; until one fateful year she didn't show up. He waited and waited for her until the sun started to set; the golden ball slowly sinking past the horizon, and at that point he decided that something wasn't right. He raced to her little cottage outside of the village and flew in through one of the windows. He knew she was there when he saw her leather satchel hung over one of the kitchen chairs; and so without a second thought he raced back to the mothers' room. The door was open so he slid through and was met with a sight that made his heart sink. Standing next to the bed of the mother was the village Doctor that he recognized from the few jobs the girl had done for him. He had a solemn look on his face as he watched the girl cry on her mothers' stomach. The older woman had a saddened smile on her face as she patted the girls back. Her physical state had steadily declined as the years passed, her hair was no longer silky and brown but frayed and graying, her once beautiful face was covered in stress lines, eyes sunken in and devoid of their usual energy. She was dying and it broke his heart to see it.

He tried to back away slowly, he no longer wanted to see this sight that saddened him so much; but as he did, Jack's foot accidentally bumped against the door causing it to squeak ever so slightly. He flinched act the noise; luckily the doctor and the girl hadn't heard him over the latters crying. But now the mother was staring. Right. At. Him.

Her eyes seemed to widen for a bit, but soon after her smile returned to her face the glint returning to her eyes, if only for a few seconds, and she reached her arm out to him. Could she see him? But that was impossible! No one could ever see him, that was his curse. She said something, and if it weren't for the quietness of her voice and the softness of her words he could have sworn she had said Jack; but there was no way; he hadn't met these people before. He had never met these people before in his life, but for some reason it felt like he should have. So he just stood there as the doctor and the girl turned around to see what she was talking about; both insisting that no one was there. He thought he heard her say it again. The life started to fade from her eyes , and the daughter started to beg and plead louder; telling her mother to come back to her. But it was too late. Her arm dropped, half hanging off the bed. She looked peaceful. A thin smile was present on her face as the doctor closed her eyes. Jack was thankful because he didn't think he could handle the stare she continued to give to him even after she passed.

Suddenly, what could only be described as the spirit, the soul of the woman, rose out of the it's body and floated it's way through the two other humans in the room and over to him. It was an exact copy of the old woman-no, it was her. But she looked different. She looked young, like she had never gotten sick a day in her life. She reached her hand up to his face and brushed his cheek with her thumb. He wanted so badly to grab the woman's hand, to hold her hand closer to his cheek so she could never let go. But why? Only now did he realize that he had been crying this whole time; a constant stream of tears leaking out of the corner of his eye and onto her hand. With one final smile she began to disappear slowly. Jack wanted to scream, to shout at her not to leave; and the scariest part was he still didn't know why.

He stood there with the crying girl and watched as strange men in suits came in and carried the body off. He didn't even flinch as they passed right through him. He stayed with the girl through the night until she fell asleep.

Before he flew out the window that night he planted a kiss on the girls forehead. He tried to convince himself that it was because of the tragic event that had taken place not minutes ago, to comfort her through this traumatizing time in her life; and maybe that was partially true. It was weird but he felt as though he had a deeper connection to this girl. Like he had seen her somewhere before that day on the lake.

When the light from the morning woke her up the next day, she found two flower wreaths carefully placed on the kitchen table.

That was the last time he saw his birthday girl.

Jamie, who had started to wave his hand in front of Jacks' face when he realized that Jack wasn't listening to his story about how Monty had mixed the wrong chemicals in science and the school had to be evacuated snapped Jack out of his thoughts. "Jack? Hellooooooo?! Anybody home?" Jamie asked leaning forward in front of Jacks' face. The winter spirit shook the thoughts out of his head. "Hmm? Oh yeah, yeah, just thinking is all" He stammered.

It had been a two whole years since Pitch Black had attempted his whole "destroy the guardians and encompass the world in darkness so that I can be believed in" shtick that took place in the small town of Burgess, Pennsylvania. Things had been quiet since then. No emergencies or plots to take over the world had taken place since Pitch's defeat, and honestly? Jack Frost couldn't be happier. No more cutting snowball fights short to go save the world or having to leave Jamie alone suddenly because some crazed spirit was wreaking havoc. He could just relax and have fun like he was made to do. Speaking of Jamie, Jack was sat on the windowsill of his room talking to him while Sophie played off in the corner.

Jamie was ten now and still a firm believer in the Guardians, as are the other kids in his neighborhood. Jack had made it a point to have time to visit the very first believers in the whole of his existence. He took any chance he could to come visit whether it was snowball fight or just to sit down and chat.

"'Bout' what?" Jamie asked, sitting back in the seat of his desk chair.

Thinking quickly, Jack leaned forward on his staff and gave Jamie his most mischievous smile. "Just about all the candy I'm gonna steal from that stash you keep in a shoe box under your bed!" "You wouldn't!" Jamie gasped, eyes squinted as if to challenge Jack.

"Try me" Jack said as he leaned farther forwards on his staff, eyes squinted in defiance and his mischievous smirk ever present on his face . His staring match with Jamie was cut short, however, as a piece of paper containing three crudely drawn stick figures obstructed his line of sight.

"Frosty! Frosty!" It was Jamie's' now four year old younger sister, Sophie, and currently she was holding up a drawing she had apparently made while he and Jamie were talking. It was a very crudely drawn image of three stick people with pudgy arms and legs and tiny stick fingers. One had messy crayon yellow hair with a too large smile showing all it's missing teeth. "Sophie" he guessed.

To her left was another, slightly taller one with poorly drawn brown hair and wearing, what he guessed, was a heavy winter coat. "Jamie" he thought, a slight smile breaking out across his face at the fact that Sophie had drawn the coat so large it made him seem like a giant bowling ball. "So" Jack thought to himself, looking at the final figure too the right of 'stick figure Sophie', "That means this handsome devil must be me". To the right of Sophie stood him, a tall stick figure wearing a blue hoodie that had been colored in so sloppily that the blue crayon leaked outside of its lines. But none of that mattered to Jack. In his opinion it was the best drawing in the world just because it came from someone he cared about.

"Wow Sophie" He said enthusiastically, "You drew this all by yourself? That's great!". Jack picked up Sophie and places her in his lap. "You're one heck of an artist, aren't 'cha?" He said holding Sophie in one arm and her drawing in the other. Sophie just giggled and jumped up and down in his lap.

"Hey! Lemme see! Lemme see!" Jamie shouted, grabbing the paper from Jack and looking at it with a scrutinizing gaze. "What're you talking about? This is..." "The greatest picture you've ever seem? My thoughts exactly!" Jack interrupted with a nervous chuckle and a look in Jamie's direction.

"Whatever" Jamie harrumphed handing the paper back to Jack and siting back down in his seat.

Meanwhile, Sophie, who was now facing backwards in Jacks' arms looked out the window in awe. "Pretty!" she exclaimed happily as she reached out her arms towards the closed window.

"What are you looking at Sophie?" Jack said holding her out in front of him and away from the window.

" Pretty Lights!"

Jack turned around to see what Sophie was looking at.

"Whoa, is that...?" Jamie breathed. "The Northern Lights?!" Jack exclaimed.

What could it be? Pitch couldn't have come back already could he?! Last time it took centuries for Pitch to regain his powers. So far it had only been TWO YEARS! Jack quickly put Sophie down on Jamie's' floor much to her annoyance.

"Hey, uh, look, Jamie;" Jack said hopping over to his staff as Sophie latched onto his leg. "Right now I have to go. Tell me that story later?" Jack said folding Sophie's' drawing and putting it in his hoodie pocket.

Jamie followed him as he hopped around trying to get him off of his leg. "What do you think it is, Jack" he asked worriedly "Do you think Pitch is back?".

"Pitch? Please, "Meanwhile Jack had finally managed to pry Sophie off of his leg and hop to the window. "Don't worry about it" he said opening the window. " I'm sure North probably just...lost his favorite coat or maybe he finally can't see his toes and he's wondering where his feet went" Jack joked hoping to lighten the mood. To tell the truth he was worried too. But he couldn't let Jamie know that. No...Jamie didn't deserve to worry. He just hoped his façade held up and Jamie didn't see through his lie.

To his relief Jamie laughed and Jack let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Ha Ha! Be careful Jack!" Jamie said giving Jack a mischievous smile of his own, "I might just tell him you said that in my letter to him this Christmas."

Jack gasped imitating the face Jamie had made earlier. "You wouldn't" he said just barely able to keep down a smile.

"Try me" Jamie returned with a smile. It was times like this where he wondered whether he really was a good influence on him or not. He laughed heartily, although he really did hope Jamie was bluffing.

"Well" he said waving the two of them goodbye, "See ya later"

Jamie replied with a wave of his own; and with that Jack jumped out the window, letting the wind carry him back to the Pole.

...

As Jack entered the familiar icy territory of the North Pole he couldn't get the thought of what could be wrong out of his head. Maybe he was right and it really wasn't a big deal? A boy can dream can't he? Plus it was all too soon. There was no chance in hell that Pitch could regain his power this quickly. Not on his own anyway. He snapped out of his thoughts as he saw the approaching shape of North's' workshop. It really was a magical looking place. It was a gigantic Russian palace that had been built into the ice of an icy cliff, a trait that Jack had been meaning to ask North about when he got the chance

As the North Wind brought Jack closer to the workshop, he could just make out the window that lead into the Globe Room. "But" Jack thought, fingering the hoodie pocket he had put Sophie's drawing in, "first I have something I need to do".

"WIND!" Jack shouted over the rushing of air as he flew at Mach speeds, "TAKE ME AROUND TO MY ROOM!". Jack new he didn't have to shout but it was more for his benefit than the North Wind's', considering he could probably hear Jack just fine.

Jack let out a laugh of surprise as the wind jostled around, changing direction to head around to the west side of the palace, making jack do little flips and other aerial tricks along the way. When the wind finally reached Jack's room he was a mass of laughter and fun, his bright blue eyes devoid of any former concern he'd had just minutes before. Usually the window to his room was open, but today he had left it closed since he usually spent the night outside. 'It's not like I'm gonna catch a cold or anything' he had replied jokingly to his fellow Guardians when he had been asked why he kept it open. And it was true, he couldn't. Being a winter spirit meant he was naturally adapted to the cold and considering the circumstances of his...becoming a spirit, he guessed it made sense.

His smile dropped for a moment. He didn't like to think about his death. He remembered seeing a girl crying herself to sleep when he went into the village by his lake on the first night of him becoming Jack Frost. Only when he got his memories back did he realize that that girl was his sister. And the reason she was crying was because not even hours before her brother had drowned and frozen in a lake and left her all alone. He never forgave himself for leaving her how he did. One of the only people who cared for her, who cared for her wellbeing, who made her smile...and he had left her - no,... abandoned her. And he had caused her such sadness.

With over 300 hundred years all on his own with no one to see him, no one to talk to, no one to notice him; he had picked up a bad habit..

Jack subconsciously rubbed his wrists, feeling the uneven skin of the healed cuts and the scabs of the recent ones that hadn't.

Ever since he met the guardians he had tried to stop, but after the whole ordeal with Sandy, ruining Easter again, and sorting through his memories, the thought of his sister, how alone she must have felt, it brought a whole new level of hurt upon him. To this day, the guardians hadn't found the old fancy knife he hid constructed out of ice in his drawer. And if he had any say in it, they never would.

As he rubbed his wrist his arm bumped against something in his hoodie, bringing him back to why he was here. He delicately took out Sophie's drawing, opening it and looking over every detail. Any other person would have called it hideous. They would just write it of as some stupid drawing by some four year old. But not him. To Jack it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Better than any old dusty painting you could fin in a museum. It was a gift from his family, and he wouldn't give it up for anything.

He took a few pieces of tape off of the desk in his room and put the paper up on the frost-covered walls with all of the rest. Dozens of papers covered his wall all of them drawn by either Sophie or Jamie. There was even a drawing of the day he and Jamie played together, although Jamie didn't know it at the time. Jack smiled wistfully as his eyes roamed over the drawing of Jamie riding off of a ramp of ice and into the snow, Jamie's friends cheering him on in the background. Jamie had added him in shortly after he told him that he was responsible for his 'joy ride' through town.

He had decided after the battle with pitch that he wouldn't allow what had happened to his sister happen to the kids of Burgess. They were his very first believers, but even more than that; they were like his family. The brothers and sisters he'd wished he had during his long three hundred years alone.

"No" he whispered as he slowly walked out of his room and closed the door, "Never again. I won't abandon anyone. I'll protect them with my life. All of them. The Guardians, the children; everyone." He promised. And with that he turned around and quickly made his way to the globe room. He had a meeting to get to.

...

**Me: There you go, a pretty good start to the story if I do say so myself!**

**Myself: Right you are Me!**

**I: Indubitably! You're the greatest ol' bean.**

**Me: Oh gee! You guys are the best!**

**Jack: *whispers to Bunny* Is he alright? He seems to be talking to himself.**

**Bunnymund: I think the blokes a little off his rocker, mate.**

**Me: What are you guys talking about?**

***Bunny and Jack both have minor heart attacks* **

**Jack: O-oh n-nothing!**

**Bunnymund: Y-yeah mate, just talking about how great you are!**

**Me: Aww shucks, you're making me blush!**

**Bunnymund: Yeah sure. (Ya bloody crackpot)**

**Me: What was that?**

**Bunnymund: Nothing!**

**Me: *shrugs* Alright then. Don't forget to read and review! I'll try to update when I can! See ya later!**


	3. Chapter 1: There Is Darkness

It was a fairly short walk from the sleeping quarters to the Globe Room just incase an emergency such as this were to happen.

"We don't know for sure if it's an actual emergency" he tried to reassure himself. He could see the bright lights of the Globe Room and hear the commotion of toys being made and tested by the Yeti's. And with every passing moment he began to wish even more that it were really just some misunderstanding.

He finally stepped into the light of the Globe room and gazed around the room looking for the other Guardians. He found them the same way he had the first time he had seen them together. Except there was something missing...or someone.

"Yo guys!" Jack said walking up to group of spirits standing in a circle.

"Ah, Jack! Is good to see you, no?" North said, nearly knocking Jack over with a slap to his back.

"I sure hope so" Jack said under his breath.

"Vhat vas dat?"

"Nothing!" Jack replied quickly with a nervous laugh. "Sandy, Tooth, what's up?." He said in greeting.

"Hello Jack!" Tooth responded flying up to Jack, "have you been flossing like I told you too?" she asked as she began poking her fingers around in his mouth.

"Mmphngg!"

"Tooth!" North exclaimed walking back over to Sandy. "How many times do I have to be telling you? Fingers out of mouth."

Tooth quickly removed her fingers from Jack's mouth. "Oops sorry" she said flying back over to North and Sandy, "they're still beautiful!" she said with enthusiasm, although a hint of embarrassment could be heard in her voice at the fact she couldn't control her impulses.

"Ugh, no problem" he said trying to get the taste of Tooth's hands out of his mouth. It tasted like extremely minty toothpaste. "Anyway," Jack continued, wiping off his mouth with the sleeve of his hoodie. "Where's the kangaroo?"

Sandy created many different sand pictures above his head.

"You're right Sandy, it is unusual for him to be the last one here." Tooth responded, not hindered at all by the ever-present speech barrier.

Suddenly a hole appeared in the floor of North's workshop and out hopped old' Peter Cotton Tail himself. The hole refilled and grew a flower where it once stood.

"Ah!" North exclaimed as E. Aster Bunnymund, more commonly known as the Easter Bunny, made his way over to them, not looking happy at all. "Speaking of Devil. Bunny! You are late!" North said in a mocking tone.

"Yeah," Jack said leaning on his staff smiling, "That's my thing"

Bunny didn't even look at Jack. Instead he went straight up to North and pointed a finger in his face.

"I thought you said we weren't going to do this anymore, mate!" Bunny half yelled with his thick Australian accent.

"Vhatever do you mean?" North asked confused, although Bunny could tell he knew exactly why.

" You know exactly what I mean, you jolly bag o' jello! It's Almost Easter! It's less than a month away in fact!" Bunny exclaimed, his finger getting closer to North's face causing him to lean back ever so slightly.

"Please Bunny," North said swatting Bunny's paw out of his face and walking to stand in front of the group, "I am having no idea vhat you are talking about"

"Why you..!"

"Bunny!" Tooth exclaimed, disrupting him from going on his rant. "I'm sure North has a good reason for bringing us all here. He always has before!" she scolded. Sandy nodded sending a disappointed look Bunny's way, showing that he agreed with what she said.

"Oh come on" Bunny said, sounding a little defensive now, "The oaf probably just lost his favorite coat and wants us to help him look for it!"

Jack let out a short chuckle.

"And what 're you laughin' at ya bloody snowflake!" Bunny yelled

Just as Bunny stepped closer to Jack, all of the sudden the room was bathed in a ray of moon light.

"Manny!" Bunny shouted surprised as he backed a way from Jack, "I was just...um...see what had happened was..." Bunny was suddenly pushed out of the way by North.

"AS I was saying," North said shooting Bunny a glare and causing him to back up even more. "The reason I have called you all here is because Manny has something to tell us". North signaled with a gesture of the hand that Manny now had their attention.

Jack waited for Manny to make the little shadow puppets appear on the floor like he usually did, but instead he heard a voice. He didn't know how to describe it. It didn't have any pitch or tone, in fact he didn't know if he could even call it a voice. It was more like words in his head.

"Thank you North" He began. "Now that I have all of your attention I have an important message to tell you."

After getting over the shock of having a voice, or whatever it was, in his head he looked up at the moon with a surprised look that soon turned and angry smirk. "So you really can talk , can't you?" Jack asked with mock astonishment. "Did you guys now this? Cause I sure didn't"

"Jack," He responded, "now is not the time..."

"Oh really" was Jack's sarcastic reply, "Cause I don't know if I'll get this chance again, seeing as you're so 'busy' and all"

"Jack..."

If it were possible Jack could have sworn he heard a hint of warning in Manny's voice. But it didn't matter. He needed to get it off his chest. Jack tried to hold back his anger but he couldn't find the strength to do so, nor did he want to. "Over THREE HUNDRED YEARS!" he shouted glaring angrily up at the moon, "THREE HUNDRED FUCKING YEARS AND YOU NEVER ONCE ANSWERD ME WHEN I TALKED TO YOU! " Jack could feel tears welling up in his eyes. "Three hundred years you saw what I was doing to myself and you never helped" he thought to himself.

"Jack!" Tooth gasped, not used to seeing Jack this mad or using such vulgar language.

"It was necessary..." Manny started. Jack could tell that Manny was trying to hold back anger of his own, but Jack ignored it. He tried to reign in his anger but he just couldn't. Something had snapped inside him and he could feel all of his pent up anger, all of the rage he had kept hidden for over 300 year come loose.

"And where were all of you!" He shouted turning to look at the four other spirits in the room, all with equally shocked looks on their face. "I KNOW YOU KNEW I WAS THERE! SO WHY?! THERE WERE NO GREETINGS, NO TALKING, NOT EVEN A GOD DAMN LETTER TO SAY 'Hello jack! Welcome to the spirit world!", NOTHING!"

"ENOUGH!" Manny shouted inside of their heads. HE wasn't going to stand by and let some young spirit disrespect him and question what he had to do. He finally snapped and all the Guardians noticeably flinched when he did.

"I will NOT stand by and let you talk down to me! I did what needed to be done. Now If you're quite done I would like to get back to business!" Manny stated calming himself down. It had pained Manny to see what Jack was going through, and it hurt even more to not be able to do anything. But it went beyond him.

Jack wanted to retaliate, to shoot back with some sarcastic comment but he had lost the energy to. And as he calmed down, he realized the weight of what he had said. The Guardians where giving him a mixture of shocked and guilty faces. This wasn't what he wanted at all. He didn't mean to snap at any of them but he just couldn't help himself. Now they would start asking questions, and he could only avoid them for so long. He quickly averted his eyes to the ground, a look of guilt and shock adorning his own features.

Jack could hear Manny sighed in his head. "The reason I called you here is of great importance." He started again, "Certain... friends of mine have brought to my attention a plot most devious"

Bunny, being the first to snap out of his stupor, looked up at the moon questioningly, "Wait, wait, wait, what friend of yours? And who's plotting?" Bunny asked.

"Patience Bunnymund I am going to tell you. Concerning the identity of my companions I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually." Many replied sagely. "As to who is plotting though, it's someone you should know well...Manic N. Terror."

Everyone except Jack and Sandy gasped, Sandy producing an exclamation mark over his head instead, his eyes wide in surprise.

Jack found the courage to talk again and looked at his friends' faces questioningly. "Who's that guy?" He asked, eyes looking to the Guardians for answers.

Tooth flew closer to Jack with a look of worry still on her face, her small mini fairies doing the same "Manic N. Terror, more commonly known as the monster that hides under the bed. He's an evil spirit who resorts to sucking out the happiness of little kids, sometimes even adults, and replacing it with pure irrational fear."

"So he's like Pitch? No problem we can take him easy then! What's the big deal?" Jack asked not seeing what the problem was with one rogue spirit.

"Not quite." Tooth replied sadly. "See, unlike Pitch, Manic has no trouble harming humans, whereas Pitch just caused nightmares, Manic would cause pain. Manic is also much more powerful. Have you ever had a nightmare where you could have sworn you felt the pain? Well he's is the cause of that. We've been trying to track him down for centuries with no luck." Tooth's' frown suddenly deepened, " Until about seventy five years ago that is.

North suddenly cut in, "See, Manic is like extremist. He does not believe that humans deserve to inhabit same space as spirits. He even goes so far as to suggest zhat humans don't even deserve to live. He would do anything to he could to get rid of humans; and in WWII he was able to get into sleeping quarters of President Harry Truman."

Jack officially didn't like where this was going.

Suddenly Bunny cut in for him, anger evident on his face, "The bloody prick gave the bloke night terrors convincing him to drop the bomb on Hiroshima before the Japanese did the same to the U.S." Bunny was clutching his paws tightly, squeezing so hard that his claws dug into the pads of his hand.

"Many people, both children and adult lost their lives zhat day" North finished. Tears had started to well up in Tooth's eyes.

"...Why didn't anyone stop him?" Jack asked timidly, not trying to accuse any of the Guardians of not doing their jobs.

Tooth spoke up between quiet sobs as she looked into empty space with angry eyes, "...That bastard knew as Guardians that we're not allowed to interfere with human affairs, but if we had known he had done it we could have done something... It was just a matter of making it look convincing... " she choked out. Sandy floated up and patted her shoulder to comfort her. It had been tough news for all of them when they had found out.

Jack eyes hardened, "So? Where is he now?! Why don't e go teach him a teach him a lesson?!." His eyes were filled with a sound rage. He wanted this person to answer for their crimes.

"Ve do not know Jack,"

"Ya don't you think we would've kicked this blokes ass if we knew?!" Bunny said angrily, although he didn't look at him. "He hasn't shown his bloody mug since then. Probably went into hiding again right after, the stupid coward"

"That is, until now." Manny cut in. Jacked nearly jumped off the ground! He had completely forgot that Manny were here. "And that is not all." He continued. "My resources tell me that he is amassing an army, though for what, I'm not entirely sure. I'm afraid, my Guardians that this is one fight you cannot win on your own."

"Then vhat are ve to do Manny?" asked North looking up to the moon with questioning eyes.

"The answer is simple Guardian of Wonder." He said, "We build an army of our own. I have sent word out to all of the spirits who think themselves ready for a war and told them to prepare. Even though he is amassing forces it is strange that Manic has not made any moves so far, so I can only assume that he has some sort ulterior goal."

"So we're going to war?" Jack asked with dread in his voice. What was Jamie gonna say when he told him? Should he even tell him? He should probably tell him to be wary for a while and stay inside much more as well as the other kids.

"Indeed." Manny said solemnly, "But do not fret young one, I have assigned forest spirits who live in the woods nearby Burgess to keep an eye out for any trouble, as well as all other spirits around the world."

Jack let out a breath of relief.

"However," Manny continued, preparations still need to be made and there are not yet enough soldiers in our 'army'. So be prepared to see many more new faces around her." He said warningly.

"Wait," Tooth said, having roped in her emotions, " You mean like, more Guardians?" she asked, a hint of excitement entering her voice as her wings began to beat faster. She always thought they could use more members!

"Indeed." Manny replied. Jack could swear he could feel Manny smiling at Tooth's excitement. "Starting with a face you should know very well." He finished. After a short moment of silence, the floor began to vibrate ever so slightly. In the center of the space they where standing in, a crystal rose from the floor and shone brightly throughout the room. But instead of the light blue it had been when Jack had been chosen, it shone a deep green.

"Is it the leprechaun?" Jack asked. Sandy showed thumbs up to show that he agreed with Jack.

Suddenly the green light expanded upwards and within the light formed a symbol and a figure. The symbol was a solid black circle, which had a circle of four deep green, thin, rounded trapezoids within it. Within that lay a deep green star with, what seemed to be a solid black joystick in the center. Standing in front of it was a relatively tall figure if the image was anything to go by. He was wearing a hoodie with the sleeves rolled up showing an assortment of tattoos, jeans and vans. Now, Jack was very confident about his sexuality when he thought that the man standing in front of him was handsome. Jack couldn't tell how old he was.. He could have been anywhere from his mid twenties to early thirties, although with spirits that didn't mean much. His eyes where half lidded, but even in the holographic image you could see a twinkle in his eyes, and light stubble surrounded a lopsided smirk. But what stood out to Jack the most was the long staff slung over his shoulder with a large curved blade at the end: a scythe.

Tooth's' fairies immediately swooned and Jack could tell that Tooth was fairly close to doing the same. Sandy had a surprised look on his face, his eyes wider then Jack had ever seen them before. Bunny's ears drooped his eyes staring up at the image before him in awe.

"Crikey!" he whispered.

North let out a boisterous laugh, his eyes now returned to the wonder filled orbs they once were. "I believe Bunny might faint!" he managed to get out between burst of laughter.

"Hmm..." Jack murmured. "He looks familiar." He said walking closer to the glowing crystal. "I think I've seen him somewhere before..."

Bunny turned towards jack with and incredulous look. "How could you possibly NOT know who that is?!"

"Should I" Jack asked not seeing what the big deal is.

"That right there?" Bunny said hopping closer to the crystal and pointing his finger at the person, "That's Geoff Ramsey." Bunny said hoping Jack wasn't as clueless as he thought he was.

Jack placed his thumb and forefinger on his chin in a thinking pose. "Hmmm...Geoff Ramsey...I think I've heard that name before."

Bunny let his head and arm droop. How could he not know who he was?! He was well known both in the spirit and human communities.

North, whose laughter had calmed down to a light chuckle, patted Bunny on the back. "Is alright Bunny," North said in his thick Russian accent, " I will tell him who your 'crush' is"

Bunny sent North a cold glare. " Oi. It's NOT a crush! I'm just a big fan is all. Besides," Bunny said pointing back at Tooth whose mini fairies had begun to fan her off, "I'm not the only one."

"Jeez," Jack breathed, "All this for one guy? Just who is he exactly?"

"Vell, " North started, "In human community he is known for creating a group famous on ze 'YouTube' called 'Achievement Hunter'."

Jack's face lit up. "Oh! I know them! Jamie talks about the mall the time! He says they're hilarious. They play videogames right?"

All of the Guardians turned to look at Jack.

"What?" he asked.

"Well, It's just that. Isn't their humor a little *ahem* explicit for Jamie's age?" Tooth asked with a small blush, Sandy nodding his head in agreement.

"Wait, You guys watch it too?" Jack asked incredulously

"Well...I mean...that is to say... occasionally." Tooth stutters.

Bunny rolled his eyes. "Ya right, If by 'occasionally' you mean 'every chance I can get so I can see Geoff Ramsey's' face."

Tooth blushed even more, her face turning indignant "Oh yeah? Well, you're a fan too!"

"But at least I don't have a poster of them up on the wall of my den!"

Tooth gasped "When did you see that?!"

Bunny gave a satisfied smirk. " I didn't." he stated triumphantly.

"Wow, I didn't see you guys as people who are into video games!" Jack asked in excitement. "Let alone have time for them."

"Ha!" North laughed. "Tooth has many of the video game console at her Palace!" North pointed to Bunny, "As does Bunny!"

Jack let out a chuckle at North's enthusiasm. "What about you and sandy?" he asked.

"I am PC gamer." North replied. "Sandy does not play games. He has nowhere to put zem."

Jack looked at Sandy.

Sandy shrugged.

Jack looked back at North. "So why ask a human for help? I mean it's not like he can see us."

North let out another loud laugh. "This is why he is not human. At least not any more"

"Wait, what?!"

"Jack," Tooth took over, "Have you ever heard of the Big Three?"

Jack shook his head, a baffled look still on his face.

"Well," Tooth started, racking her brain for a useful explanation to give to Jack, "The Big Three are the three most powerful entities in all of existence,"

Jacks face lit up. "You mean like Manny"

Bunny let out an abrupt laugh, "Please, Manny wouldn't stand a chance against any of them." He flinched, "Um... No offense to you of course, Manny." He said looking up to the open ceiling with an awkward chuckle.

"No offense taken, Bunnymund" Jack heard Manny reply in his head.

Jack's eyes widened. "Spirits stronger that the Man In the Moon?!" Jack thought, "Wow!"

"Surprising, No?" North smiled at Jack, crossing his arms.

"As I was saying," Tooth continued, sending an annoyed glance towards her fellow Guardians at being interrupted. "Not only are they the most powerful, but they're also the oldest to ever exist."

Jack raised his hand timidly, honestly a little frightened by Tooth after the last time he interrupted. "Exactly how old are they?"

"That's a good question Jack," Tooth smiled. "You see..." "Nobody knows, mate." Bunny interrupted again.

Tooth sent a glare his way. Bunny shied away.

"Ahem. Yes, that is correct. Nobody knows exactly how old they are."

"Why not?" Jack asked.

Tooth shrugged. "Nobody thought to ask I guess. They're just satisfied with knowing they're really old."

Jack put that down on his mental checklist to be the one of the things he asked them if he ever met one.

"Anyway, those three entities are Burnie Burns; also known as God, Joel Heyman aka Satan; or the devil, and Geoff Ramsey; the Grim Reaper. The Latter of the three being our tattooed friend up there."

"He's one of the Big Three?!" Jack questioned, looking back at the holographic image of the man in awe.

"Not only that, but he's rumored to be the most powerful of them all, even though he works under the other two." Bunny revealed with a smirk.

Jack whistled. Hearing that he was more powerful than Manny was a big surprise, but more powerful than God?

"But wait," Jack said, snapping back to reality. "You said he works under the devil too. Isn't he, y'know? The bad guy?"

North shook his head. "No, no. That is just baloney made up by humans. He is actually very nice guy. Very pleasant to be around."

Sandy nodded giving a 'thumbs up' to signify that he agreed.

"Okay, okay," Jack, said holding up his hands in a 'wait' position, "There's just one thing I don't get. If these guys are spirits, then how can the people who work for them and the people who watch their videos see them?"

In Jacks opinion it wasn't fair. He had stayed invisible with no one to notice him for three hundred years; and this guy has an entire following on YouTube of people who don't even know who he really is. "Well I guess I can't be mad." Jack thought, although he couldn't help being a little "It's not like he's doing it just to spite me".

Sandy caught on to his tone and put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. Jack smiled at the gesture.

Tooth looked on at the interaction with a smile. " Well you see Jack, there are only three ways something besides a spirit can see a spirit." She started, holding up one finger. "One, is if that person has a strong connection with the spiritual world. Animals naturally have this connection, as do children although they eventually grow out of it. Number two," Tooth continued, holding up a second finger, " Is if you are a spirit yourself. This condition is the reason Geoff's co-workers can see him. Burnie Burns created Rooster Teeth as a sort of 'safe haven' for spirits and those spiritually aware with the guise of a video production company; the only of it's kind. The third," she said holding up the third and final finger, "Is the reason kids can see us, besides being more closely connected to the spirit world than adults: because they believe in us, Jack. And everybody, no matter who they are, believes in death."

"And the other spirits?" Jack asked, "How can people see them?"

Bunny shrugged with a small smile. " Their boss is God, mate. I'm sure he figured something out."

"Vell," north said rubbing his hands together. "Now that ve have explanation out of way we can focus on what is important, no? Getting Mr. Ramsey here."

Jack nodded. "So what's the plan?" He asked, "we gonna use the ol' 'stuff him in a sack and toss him through a magic portal' routine?" There was his signature mischievous smile on his face. It was clear that he wanted the chance to do it to someone else after his unceremonious arrival at the Pole.

"Um...No." North replied grabbing his coat of a nearby counter and putting it on. "Zhat vas one time only."

"What!" Jack exclaimed. "Wait, so I was the only one you did that to?!"

"Yep, mate."

Jack's shoulders sagged.

"That's so not fair..."

Tooth gave him a comforting smile. "C'mon Jack, it's no big deal. Besides I don't think it would be such a great idea to jump an all-powerful, magical deity and toss him into a sack. If we even could."

Tooth's face suddenly turned serious. "Jack, about what you said earlier..."

Jack interrupted her with a forced smile. "Don't worry about it. Look; I'm sorry I yelled at you guys. I was out of line."

Tooth's frown saddened. "Jack, It wasn't your fau-" "Tooth! Jack! Is time to go! To the Sleigh!"

On the inside Jack was relieved for the interruption, but he knew it would we brought up sooner than later. "Look, we can talk about this later, alright?"

Jack quickly made his way out of the globe room.

With a sad face and heavy heart, Tooth followed soon after.

...

**Whew! I can feel my fingers cramping! That chapter was a little longer than the last, but it was worth getting arthritis. Next chapter the Guardians meet Rooster Teeth! **

**Geoff: Hell ya! Get ready dickheads!**

**Tooth: Don't forget to floss!**

**Me: Or review.**

**Tooth: But mostly floss!**

**Me: Uh, sure...anyway, until next time, see ya later!**


	4. Chapter 2: New Recruits

If you've ever wondered what traveling inside a tear in space and time feels like, Jack Frost could explain it to you with one word: nauseating.

There were an uncountable number of different colors flying past at breakneck speeds. You felt like everything was moving except you.

Definitely not recommended for taking the wife and kids to a luxurious vacation resort in the Bahamas; or any place for that matter.

The trip through time and space only took a few seconds but it felt like it could have been hours. Jack could see the opening on the other side approaching.

As they exited the portal, the first thing he noticed was how gloomy it seemed outside. Austin weather wasn't as sunny as he'd thought it'd be; even if it was in the middle of March.

The second thing he noticed was that it was raining. Hard.

Third was the large building labeled 'ROOSTER TEETH' with an even larger warehouse out back.

There was a sudden lurch as North brought the sleigh down to land. All of the Guardians winced as the sleigh scraped over the top of a few parked cars and landed in a handicap parking space.

Sandy floated out amongst the noise of care alarms, creating a picture of a man in a wheelchair and a question mark over his head as he looked at North.

"I'm sure it's fine." North said not looking convinced at all, "We will only be little while."

Jack looked at the other Guardians and shrugged. He hopped out of the sleigh and followed North into the building. Tooth, Bunny and Sandy; who where starting to realize they were getting wet sitting out in the rain, booked it to the building.

Jack entered the building after North, Bunny Tooth and Sandy following close behind.

In front of them, sat behind a desk, was a pretty blonde woman filing her nails and looking pretty bored. Over her ears were a pair of achievement hunter headphones and she was nodding her head along to what sounded like Rock. She looked so normal Jack almost had to remind himself that she was probably a spirit in disguise.

She didn't respond to their presence immediately; giving her undivided attention to the surface of her nails. The Guardians stood their awkwardly; debating whether or not to announce their arrival. After a while she seemed to sense the many pairs of eyes targeted at her and realized she wasn't the only person in the room anymore. She looked up from her nails and took the earphones off of her head. "You guys are the Guardians, right?" she asked with a bright smile. "Names Barbara Dunkelman, Burnie's been expecting you." She put her nail file down and stood up. "Right this way gentlemen and lady." She gestured for them to follow her.

As they were walking Jack sped up to walk beside her. "Sooo..." he started, trying to think of a good conversation starter. Barbara looked at him. "Are you a spirit?"

Barbara gave him a friendly smile, "Wood nymph." She said simply. "I'm from Canada, lots of forests up there, but I moved down hear as soon as I could when I heard what the boss man was doing. I've always been interested in humans but where I'm from, talking or even being anywhere near them is a big no-no. You guys are so lucky! You get to interact with kids whenever you like."

Barbara gave Jack a look. "You're the new guy right? Jack Frost?"

Jack stuck out his hand. "Yep. Nice to meet you."

Barbara took his hand and shook it. " It's very ice to meet you too!" she said with a cheesy smile.

North, who had heard the pun, let out an laugh. "Ha ha! I get it! Is very funny!" the rest of the guardians looked at each other awkwardly.

Jack let out a chuckle. "Ha! That was horrible!"

Barbara gave him a fake upset look. "Horrible?! I've been waiting forever to use that!"

Jack let out another chuckle.

They continued to walk in content silence.

"Bloody hell," Bunny murmured, "This place didn't look this big on the outside. You guys use some sorta magic, Sheila?"

"Actually, my names Barbara, not Sheila." Barbara said innocently, not getting the meaning of the slang.

"Oh, bloody hel- It's a figure of-" Bunny started before being cut off by Barbara. "And yes, it is magic. See there are a lotta spirits here working behind the scenes so there also has to be a lot of rooms for them to stay since they have nowhere else to go. Burnie uses it a lot; it's called 'Undetectable Extension'; makes stuff bigger on the inside. Usually it's only used on small things but Burnie is powerful enough to use it on all of the buildings on the property."

Jack looked around at all of the rooms and hallways that seemed to stretch on forever and whistled.

Barbara smiled as she looked at him. "I know cool right?"

"Anyway" Bunny continued after being interrupted. "How much longer 'till we get to Burnie's office?" he asked.

"Not too long" she replied.

And true to her word the arrived outside a pair of mahogany doors with a golden handle for each one.

"Hmm." Jack hummed as he looked at the fancy door. "You think this is it?" Jack asked jokingly, which earned a smile from everyone present.

"Come in!" Jack heard from the other side of the door.

"That was weird" Jack thought. "How'd he know we were here?"

He shrugged, putting it off as it being one of the things God was capable of, and followed Barbara as she opened the door.

Tooth would be lying if she said she wasn't about to pee her metaphorical pants with excitement when she walked through the door. She had seen the big three before but only at meetings that were held every one hundred years for the big names in the spirit world, but she had never actually see them up close, let alone speak to them! But who she was most excited to talk to was Geoff. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't had a huge crush on him for a while now. And now she was finally able to see them up close.

She squealed mentally. "Okay," she told herself, taking deep breaths, "Calm, down. If he talks to you," she shuddered as she thought about it. "No! Just play it cool Tooth! Play. It. Cool."

Bunny took notice to Tooth's demeanor and gave her a smirk.

She stuck out her tongue at him.

As they finally all got through the set of mahogany doors, Tooth immediately noticed two figures, in the room. Neither of them were Geoff, but she immediately took notice to who they were.

Sitting behind his desk was Burnie, a broad shouldered man with a wide baby face and short curly hair that led into a well-groomed beard. He was wearing a polo grey colored shirt and blue jeans. He was currently playing some sort of game on his phone. Behind him stood a taller, longer faced man that sported a goatee who she recognized from the meetings as Joel. He had short unruly hair that had a 'purposefully messy' look to it. He was wearing a black Rooster Teeth hoodie and cargo shorts. He was currently leaned over the back of Burnie's chair trying to get a better look at the screen of his phone.

Jack moved closer to get a better look. "Angry Birds?" he asked.

Burnie nodded, not taking his eyes of the screen. "Yeah, but I've been stuck on this lever, for, like, ever. I just can't seem to get three stars."

Joel butts in, reaching over the seat towards Burnie's phone. "Well If you would just give it to me and let me try, then maybe I could help you."

Burnie smacked his hand away without even looking. "Goddammit Joel, I told you that if you want to play, do it on your own damn phone!"

Joel harrumphed.

"'God' dammit? Aren't you God?" Jack asked.

"So?" Burnie replied, still to immersed in the game to look up. "Waddaya, expect me to say? 'Burnie'Dammit? No way, that sounds stupid. Plus I'd sound like a huge egomaniac."

Joel muttered something along the lines of "Nothing new there." Which earned a glare from Burnie.

"Right..." Jack murmured, switching his gaze from Burnie to Joel. "So that makes you Joel; the devil, right?"

Joel gave a smile and stuck out his hand, which Jack accepted. " Yep, Joel Heyman at your service."

"Huh," Jack said, letting go of his hand. " I always thought you would have horns"

"I do." Joel replied, pointing his thumb towards Burnie who was still playing Angry Birds. "We're supposed to stay in our human forms during work hours. Burnie's orders."

Barbara cleared her throat. "Ahem. As you can see Burnie, I brought the Guardians here like you asked.

"Good," Burnie said finally putting away his phone. "Now we can get down to business. I assume Manny already explained the situation to you?"

The guardians nodded.

Burnie accepted that as their answer and nodded. "Good." He said.

"Um, excuse me, Mr. Burnie sir," Tooth said as he raised her hand slightly.

Burnie brought his gaze over to her and raised an eyebrow. "Just Burnie's fine." He said in a laid back.

"Right ahem, Burnie," She continued. "Manny said that Geoff would be joining us as a Guardian." Tooth paused for a second to make sure Burnie was listening.

"That's correct." Burnie replied, eyebrow still raised.

"So, um, where is he exactly?" She continued, looking around the room as to prove her point.

She could hear bunny making quiet kissy noises behind her, which she replied with a n elbow to the face.

"Tooth does have good point," North chimed in. "Where is Mr. Ramsey? Does he know ve are here?" Sandy nodded his agreement, flashing a few golden sand pictures over his head.

Burnie's raised eyebrow was replaced with a mischievous grin, Joel trying to hide a chuckle behind him.

"Actually," Burnie said, smirk still on his face. "I'm glad you asked."

Tooth could feel her stomach sink.

"He doesn't actually. We were planning it as a...surprise of sorts."

Joel finally couldn't hold it in anymore and let out a fit of laughter.

"More like we just wanted to fuck with him while he's working." Joel said, his laughter reduced to short chuckles.

Jack smiled a little; he could appreciate a good prank.

Tooth, however was freaking out on the inside. "He doesn't know! Oh no, what if he gets mad at us for interrupting his work and doesn't want to talk to me ever again! This was not how she wanted their first meeting to go!" The more rational side of her brain scolded herself for overreacting. "C'mon tooth pull it together, its no big deal; just keep calm"

Once she had sufficiently calmed herself down she drew her attention back to Burnie who had just pulled out a microphone, tapping it a few times to make sure it was on.

"Geoff," Burnie said, his voice coming out from loudspeakers all over the building, bouncing off the wall and causing it to echo. "Please get your ass down to my office. NOW!."

"He'll be here soon." Burnie said, waving off the Guardians strange looks.

Not even a second later, a tear in the fabric of time and space opened right besides Burnie's desk. Luckily he was ably to hold down the paperwork that was on there so it didn't get blown across the room or sucked into the portal.

Out of the portal stepped Geoff Ramsey himself. He was wearing an orange t-shirt with a negative space photo of his face wearing sunglasses that read, "ACHIEVED AS DICKS" under a partially unzipped grey hoodie. He was wearing blue jeans and light blue vans. Other than that, he looked exactly like the hologram. In his hand he held a hot cup of coffee.

Geoff's tired, moderately pissed off half lidded eyes completely ignored the Guardians. Instead they zeroed in on Burnie and Joel's smiling faces.

"Hello Geoff," Joel said in between chuckles. "How are you? Enjoying work?"

Geoff rubbed his tired eyes and sighed. "What the fuck do you assholes want."

Tooth suddenly took into account how late it must've been. She looked at the clock on the wall. "It's almost one in the morning! He's still up this late?"

As immortal spirits, the Guardians could live without sleep; however, that didn't mean they couldn't feel fatigued. They still required it. The reason Tooth had had her mini fairies take over was because she had over 400 years of sleep to catch up on. Now that she had her fairies, she had the luxury of sleep that all of he other Guardians had. Even though Sandy worked all year long like her, being the Guardian of Dreams meant he spent a lot of time sleeping.

"Oh, nothing." Burnie said feigning innocence. "Just thought I'd see how things were coming along."

Geoff's stare didn't waver. "Look," he said, annoyance evident on his face, "I've been up since 4AM editing 15 hours worth of footage with Gavin and we're not even halfway done. So as you two pricks can imagine, right now I'm irritable as dicks-"

Tooth could hear Jack whisper something along the lines as "Irritable as dicks?" to himself.

"So-" He continued, "If you two don't tell me the real reason you two jerks called me up hear in the next three seconds, I'm kicking both of you're asses and leaving, capeesh? One..." he started, the tattoos on his arm glowing and eerie red.

"C'mon man don't be such a party pooper." Burnie said, trying to calm him down.

"Two..."

Geoff's tattoos started to glow brighter, the color from them starting to drain into the palm of his right hand.

"Geoff! Dude I'm just messin' with ya! Look- Geoff you better not fuck up my office!"

By now a long rod taller than Geoff himself had begun to materialize in his right hand. The scythe had a black metal pole with 4 foot long grey blade with a red wave pattern. On the backside of the pole was another smaller foot long downturned blade of the same design.

Tooth looked on in awe. By now the room was being saturated with Geoff's power and it was becoming hard to breathe.

"Um, guys!" Jack whispered. Tooth turned around to look at him. He was sweating profusely as were the other Guardians. She had been so focused on Geoff that she didn't know she had been doing the same. "I think we should get out of here!"

"For once I agree with the snowflake!" Bunny chimed in, his beady eyes wide in fear.

"Thre-"

She knew it wasn't a very good idea but at this point they were in danger of getting caught in the crossfire. So, steeling her nerves she flew at top speeds over in front of Geoff, her hands held out in front of her.

"Tooth!" North shouted, the rest of the Guardians frozen in place with fear.

"Geoff, wait! Calm down!" Geoff's eyes widened in surprise, and for the first time he took notice of the other people in the room.

His scythe quickly disappeared and his tattoos stopped glowing. He took his free hand and rubbed his eyes; making sure he wasn't hallucinating from fatigue.

"Wait, your Toothiana, right?" He asked looking Tooth in the eyes. "The Tooth Fairy? And you guys, " He said looking over to the frightened faces of North and the others. "You're the guardians right?"

Tooth would have squealed in delight if the situation hadn't been as serious as it had been. "He knows my name?!" she thought mentally.

"You know my name?" she whispered, although she quickly tried to cover up her mouth right after.

"Wha- Of course I know who you guys are!" He stated tiredly with a yawn, still wondering if he was asleep or not. "Everybody knows who you guys are. You guys took out, uh... fuckin' uh, Pitch two years ago, right? That was pretty sweet." He said, looking on with a bit of praise in his tired eyes.

Tooth tried to keep her excitement, although on the outside she was shaking slightly, her hands clenched in excitement. "He knows who I am! He knows who I am! OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOMYGOSH!" She swore she felt like the happiest fairy alive. She thought she might faint.

He looked over at Burnie "But why-what are they doing here?" all annoyance from earlier apparently forgotten, replaced with a questioning glance.

Burnie straightened his glasses, which had been knocked loose during Geoff's show.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat. "They would be the reason I called you up here. Recently a matter of great importance has come to my attention. I shared this information with the Man in the Moon and he agreed that if nothing is done about it, this world and every other like it could be in some deep shit. We're building an army Geoff, and we decided that you should be on the front lines. So," He said, spreading his arms out wide. " Congratulations! You're a Guardian!" He sat there, waiting for an answer from the Grim Reaper.

There was an awkward silence when Geoff didn't say anything.

Geoff took a sip of coffee. "Alright." He said his half lidded eyes not betraying any emotion.

Tooth's shoulders sagged; did he not want to be a part of the Guardians? According to Jack the first time they told him about his recruitment, it wasn't as appealing as they thought it was.

Burnie's arms dropped to his sides. " Is that it? I'm putting you on the front lines of an all out war for the fate of existence itself, and all you can say is 'Alright"?" he asked, looking kind of miffed that Geoff wasn't as surprised as he'd thought he'd be.

Catching on to both of their responses to his nonchalant-ness, Geoff was quick to explain. "Look, it's not like I'm not excited to join you guys or anything, I am. It's really cool to work with you guys. But It's just business as usual, right Burnie?"

Burnie sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

Tooth relaxed a little.

Geoff took another sip from his coffee. " So, uh, what's the fuckin sitch, dude?"

Burnie hesitated, which confused Tooth. He said he knew what was going on, so why wasn't he telling Geoff. She looked in his direction and could see an anxious look on his face, as if he was afraid to make Geoff angry again.

Burnie let out another sigh, steeling his nerves for the anger that was sure to come.

"Manic is back."

SPLAT!

What had used to be a cup of coffee was now a crumpled wad in his hand, it's contents now a soggy puddle on the ground. Coffee had sprayed everywhere, causing Tooth to flee back to safety behind her fellow Guardians.

The overbearing pressure of Geoff's anger washed over them again, this time stronger than before.

Tooth dropped to the floor, clutching her chest. The pressure was almost unbearable, it was as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to her sternum.

In the spirit world, spirits give off a type of "spiritual pressure" depending on how powerful the are. For most lesser spirits, like tree nymphs or goblins, that pressure was almost undetectable, although it wasn't impossible to find one that was stronger than average. In the presence of a spirit with greater spiritual pressure; however, the effects could be disastrous. Spirits have been known to suffer from loss of breathe or even faint in the presence of the Guardians; which is why they used a sort of "spiritual dampener" to prevent this from happening. This was the very reason why Barbara was unconscious on the floor of the office. However, this effect wasn't limited to just lesser spirits, it could happen to anybody with a great difference in spiritual pressure.

Now, this being said, Tooth had never been in the presence of a spirit more powerful than the Guardians, and she had gotten used to the presence of The Man in the Moon, so feeling the crushing power of a spirit more powerful than Manny himself up close made it hard for her to breath. She looked over at the other Guardians and could tell they felt the same way. The long time Guardians were straining to stand fear evident on some of their faces, although Sandy seemed to be doing better than the rest of them. Even Jack was using his staff just to keep himself upright.

Suddenly it stopped, Geoff having been able to reign in his anger enough to calm down. That calmness didn't reach his face though, his angry glare aimed towards Burnie.

"What the fuck did you just say?" Geoff said between his clenched teeth, his calm voice adding to scariness of his demeanor.

Burnie and Joel were the only ones who seemed unaffected by Geoff's anger.

This time it was Joel who spoke up., his face grim knowing that now wasn't a good time for joking. "Manic's has returned and he's building an army. We're not sure what he's planning but we know it can't be good."

"DAMMIT!" Geoff yelled, his fist going through the nearest concrete wall.

This time, Burnie and Joel did flinch slightly. Burnie got out of his chair and made his way over to Geoff's side, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry." Burnie whispered so the others couldn't hear. He understood how much this news angered his old friend. "You can still avenge them once the time is right. But right now I need you to calm down and work with us. Anger is what let him get control of you."

Geoff's breathing calmed. He let his shoulders sag, his fist retracting from the wall. He looked over to the Guardians, and a now waking Barbara out of the corner of his eye.

"...Alright" he whispered.

Burnie nodded and walked back over to his desk. "And you better fucking pay for that wall and clean up that mess while you're at it.." he said trying to lighten the mood with a chuckle. "I may be God but I'm not gonna use my powers for stupid stuff like that.

Geoff let out a chuckle, and although they were half lidded, the twinkle had returned to his eyes had returned. He turned fully towards the Guardians and a now awake Barbara and rubbed the back of his head.

"Heh, uh my bad guys, just got a little worked up is all. You okay Barbara?"

She nodded, giving a tired but good-natured smile. "Yeah it's cool. It's not the first time I've woken up wondering what the hell happened. Did I do something stupid while I was out?"

He smiled. "Nah, your good. You guys okay too?"

It took Tooth a moment to realize he was talking to them.

Jack wiped a bit of sweat from his head, taking a moment to return to a standing position. He gave a tired smile. "I may have peed a little but other than that, I'm pretty good." The other Guardians and Tooth nodded.

"Good!" he said clapping his hands together, causing the Guardians to flinch. "Sorry." He apologized. "Let's get down to business, shall we?"

The Guardians each gave a wary nod and joined him in front of Burnie's desk; although they noticeably kept there distance.

Barbara gave a small solute. "Sorry guys, I'm gonna leave now. No offense Geoff, but I like staying conscious."

Geoff chuckled good-naturedly, "Yeah, see ya later."

She nodded and left.

Joel gave a small stretch, yawning. "Yeah I'm gonna go hit the sack too. You can handle the explanation by yourself, right Burnie?" He left without waiting for an answer.

Burnie crossed his arms. "Lazy prick." He mumbled, unhappy that Joel had left all the explaining to him. "Anyway, I assume you all know why you're her." He didn't wait for answer. "So let me go more in detail for what's gonna happen. You guys," he said pointing at Geoff and the Guardians, " will be traveling through all of the different worlds to look for candidates that Manny has picked to join your ranks as a Guardian, and you will go undercover as residents of that world until we decide that your work is done-" Burnie stopped when he saw Jack's hand raised. "Yes?"

Jack cleared his throat. "Um, what do you mean different worlds?"

"Good question." Burnie answered. "When everything started out, me in my infinite wisdom to make more work for myself, created many different worlds; all of which we, meaning Geoff, Joel, and I, look over. That means more than just the world we live in are at stake." He said nodding his head towards Geoff.

Jack raised his head again.

Burnie sighed, "Yeah, you again, in the blue hoodie" he joked.

"How do you guys do that, exactly? The whole 'watching over multiple worlds" thing?"

Burnie rubbed his chin. "You see, back in the afterlife, I have multiple portals to every single world I ever created so that I can keep track of what's going on where. The same goes for Joel. We keep track of major events that are going on, and I don't mean like our favorite baseball teams making it to the nationals. I mean wars, conflicts." He looked at Jack to make sure he understood. Once Jack nodded he continued. "As for Geoff, he does the same thing that you're friend Toothiana does over there. He makes copies of himself and sends them to different universes, although they're not as tiny as Tooth's mini fairies. They're not as powerful as the original, not by a long shot, but their sturdy enough to deal with any straggling spirits that aren't automatically picked up for judgment by the system." He ended. "How did you think she collects all of those teeth?"

"Wait," Jack said holding up his hand. "You knew about all of this stuff about different worlds?" he asked, looking up at Tooth.

"Of course," Tooth answered, "The things that we protect, hope, dreams, wonder, memories, even our holidays; they don't just exist in this world. They exist in many different worlds, no matter how small."

"Christmas does not just exist here on this earth, Jack." North cut in.

"And neither does Easter, mate." Bunny chimed in also.

Sand showed a picture of a child sleeping and a solar system made of sand.

But how do you do it?" He asked.

"I use snow globes to set up multiple North Poles anywhere where Christmas is celebrated." North answered.

"I have multiple Warrens." Bunny said also.

Sandy created a portal of sand over his head where a trail of his dream sand was going through.

"I also use the portals to send my mini fairies out to any world where I'm believed in." Tooth said looking at Jack.

Burnie cleared his throat to get their attention. "Now, while you are in each different world, Geoff's mission from me will be to pick up any other worthy candidates he feels are strong enough to join my own separate faction called The Archangels-"

"Sweet name." Geoff cut in.

"Thank you." Replied Burnie. "He will also be sent on separate missions than yours also, whether or not he chooses to bring one of you is his choice. Achievement Hunter is already a part of Archangels so they are available as resources to you whenever you need them. Any other questions?" he asked eying Jack.

When he got a 'yes' from Jack he nodded his head and made a shooing motion with his hand. "Alright then, good. Now get out of my office."

Suddenly an invisible force opened the door behind them and pushed them out, slamming the door in their face.

Geoff, looked over to the Guardians, "Pleasant guy, huh?" he asked jokingly.

Jack nodded, "About as pleasant as a sunburn." He replied.

Geoff let out a laugh. "I know right?. Before we go I gotta go do something before we leave to go save the world and all." He took out a key from his pocket and stuck it in a random door. He turned the key and a light flashed from behind the door. He pulled it out and held it up for the Guardians to see, keeping a hand on the doorknob. The key looked normal, except on the back flat part of the key was the Achievement Hunter logo. "This is a port key." He said turning it around so the Guardians could get a better look at it. "They are made to take you to one specific place no matter what door you put it into. Makes it easier to navigate the building. This one leads to the Achievement Hunter wing." He twisted the knob and opened the door showing them a hallway with many doors and a staircases leading up off to the left. On the walls was an assortment of Achievement Hunter merchandise. He motioned for them to follow, leading them down to the very end of the hallway to a slightly opened door.

Geoff opened the door to reveal a zoned out man in his mid twenties who appeared to be hunched over a computer screen. On his head were a pair of Achievement Hunter earphones and to his right was a mug of coffee with the British flag printed on it.

Geoff picked up the nearest object, which happened to be a pillow, and chucked it at the back of the man's head. "Hey! Dickhead!" he shouted as the pillow made contact with the man's skull.

The man jumped, letting out a strange squawking noise and nearly knocking over the mug of steaming hot coffee.

He turned around looking miffed. "What the bloody hell was that for, you stupid minge?" The man shouted in a British accent.

Tooth recognized the voice. It was Gavin from the videos she watched. Now that she could see his face she definitely knew it was him.

"I'm going to save the world." He replied, ignoring the insult. "Tell the other idiots I'll call them if I need them."

He was about to leave the room when Gavin screaming interrupted him. "Hey! Hold on a bloody minute! How long will you be gone?! And what about the footage?" he asked.

Geoff re-entered the room and shrugged. "I don't know dude, however fuckin' long it takes. I'll leave the rest of the editing to you. See ya!" he said, closing the door before Gavin could retaliate.

An assortment of curses could be heard behind the door, most of them Tooth was pretty sure didn't even exist.

Geoff pulled out another key and showed it to the Guardians. This one had the regular Rooster Teeth logo. "Key to the outside." He said.

As he was sticking the key into the keyhole Jack decided to speak.

"You and that guy seem to have an...interesting relationship with that guy, huh?"

"Who, Gavin?" he chuckled as he turned the key. "You should see us when we're all together. There's much more cursing. And alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol." He smiled as the lock clicked. "We may seem like assholes to each other, and that might be true. But those assholes are my family."

Geoff opened the door, leading out into the cold, moist air of the parking lot.

"Crikey! There's a lot of cars parked out here for this late at night mate."

"So, where did you guys park?" he asked putting the key back in his pocket.

"What, you don't have a key for that?" Jack joked.

"Ah!" North interrupted, fumbling around in his pockets. "Is here somvere...AHA!" he said pulling out a small device with a mini candy cane keychain attached to it.

When he pressed the button on the device the faint sound of 'Here Comes Santa Claus" could be heard blaring out of a car horn.

The rest of the Guardians turned to North with questioning looks.

"Really, mate?"

"Vat! It is very catchy tune."

...

**Me: Ladies and gentlemen, I would like you to know my fingers have fallen off seconds after the completion of this chapter from too much typing, and I'm now using my toes to type this; but no worries! The story shall continue!**

**Jack: Yeah right; you're overreacting.**

**Me: Am not! My fingers are naught but nubs.**

**Tooth: But you're using them now...**

**Me:...*points in random direction* Look! Geoff naked!**

**Tooth: Where!**

**Me: Dontforgettoreviewseeyabye!**


	5. Chapter 3: History Lesson

The rain had subsided to a light drizzle as the Guardians quickly followed the noise of the car alarm to North's sleigh. The reindeer looked upset at being left out in the rain and they let North know their displeasure by grunting and rearing up on their hind legs. North patted their wet fur and whispered calming words in their ears.

"Sorry, sorry! I vill make it up to you vhen we get back to Palace, no? Lots of carrots and hot chocolate." North apologized as he grabbed the reigns of the sleigh.

The Guardians entered the sleigh, North in at the helm; Jack had called shotgun, and the rest of the Guardians filling in the seats behind. Tooth sat in the bench directly behind North and Jack, scooting all the way down to the edge and avoiding making any glances in Geoff's direction, something she was struggling at.

Sandy was about to join Tooth on the bench but was halted by a paw on his shoulder. He turned his head to see Bunny with a sly smile on his face. Bunny eyed Tooth then gave a small nod to Geoff who was off petting the reindeers up front.

Sandy's eyes widened in realization at what he was hinting and nodded back with a devious smile of his own.

"Bunny, Sandy! Vhat is holding up?"

"Nothing, mate. Just about to sit down." Bunny said with a smirk.

Tooth looked up at Bunny to see the smirk on his face. She gave him a disbelieving look, realization dawning on her of what he planned to do. 'You wouldn't' she mouthed. He simply raised his eyebrow, smirk growing wider. Sandy floated into the row behind her, Bunny following close behind; the whole way Tooth was motioning for them to sit next to her, mouthing at them angrily to 'get their asses back over here'.

She was interrupted when Geoff himself plopped down next to her.

"Geoff!" she greeted a little too excitedly, laughing nervously. "It's fantastic to have you on the team! Are you excited to be on the team?"

She turned around and slapped her palm over her face. "What the hell are you doing Tooth! You sound like a complete dork! What happened to playing it cool!"

"Oh, yeah sure." He said not paying any mind to Tooth's little episode. "This is so fucking cool! I always wanted to see Santa's workshop; and his sleigh!"

"That's great Geoff! Really great!" she said leaning in closer to his face, laughing a little maniacally.

Geoff leaned back; giving Tooth a weird look, a smile adorning his face.

"You're pretty fuckin' weird, you know that?" he asked with a chickle.

Tooth paled. "Oh." She said. She turned to face away from Geoff. "Sorry."

Tooth was on the verge of tears. She knew the way she looked wasn't exactly normal. In fact, when she was first invited to join the Guardians, she didn't even want to show up in fear of judgment; and now all of those insecurities were coming back to the surface.

Bunny hadn't planned this at all. He was hoping to just set an awkward situation for Tooth in hopes the two of them would talk. He could feel anger build up in his gut as he made a move to grab Geoff; but he was surprised as something unexpected happened: Seeing the effect his words had, Geoff gently placed a hand on Tooth's shoulder.

"There's nothing to be sorry about." He said.

Tooth looked back up to him, although he was staring straight ahead.

"Huh?" she said wiping away the traces of tears.

"You're pretty amazing Tooth. You helped stop Pitch, twice, mind you, you even continued to collect teeth even when no one believed in you."

Tooth rubbed her arm, a small blush returning to her cheeks, although he tried to hide it.

"It wasn't me who collected the teeth." She said sadly averting her eyes again, "All of the other Guardians did it. Not me. I just sat on the sideline uselessly while they did all the work for me. If I hadn't let my fairies get caught in the first place it never would have-"

"Bullshit."

Tooth's head snapped up to face Geoff's face.

"What?"

"I said," Geoff said giving her a firm look. "Bull. Shit. Even if they did collect the teeth because you were weakened, would they have been able to find them without you?"

"Well, no...but-"

Geoff held his finger up to Tooth's lips, bringing the blush back to her cheeks, although Geoff didn't notice. "But shit." He said staring determinedly into her eyes. "They wouldn't have been able to do shit without you, period. No if ands or buts about it. You saved yourself that night."

He removed his finger from her lip and she felt herself longing for the warmth of his touch again, to hear the soothing-ness of his voice. Geoff sat back up straight in his seat, although his determined gaze never left her eyes.

"I didn't call you weird to insult you; there's nothing to insult."

Tooth thought she felt lightheaded. Was he complementing her? This wa too much!

"Hell, I'd be one to talk about being weird. When someone calls me weird I see it as a complement. You should too."

Tooth calmed herself down enough to give him a questioning glance.

"Why's that?"

"It means you're unique. I figured that when someone says you're weird, just think of it like this: there's nobody else in the whole entire world that is exactly like you. It's just a way for 'normal' people to show how jealous they are of you. While you're being yourself, they're running around like assholes trying to be someone else. There's way too many idiots in the world to worry what all of them think about you. So why bother?" He said.

Tooth's smiled bashfully. She looked at him timidly and cleared her throat. "Ahem, Thanks a lot Geoff. I really appreciate it."

She mentally squealed. It had only been twenty minutes since they first met face to face and they were already talking like old friends. If things went the way she wanted them to, maybe they would be soon enough. And if she played her cards right, maybe even more.

She allowed herself the pleasure to think about it for a moment, blush growing brighter on her face as her mind started to stray towards more...*ahem* deviant thoughts.

"Eh, I knew it would work out." Bunny whispered to Sandy.

Sandy rolled his eyes.

North smiled. He had heard the whole conversation. "We are ready for liftoff!" he shouted, and with the crack of the reigns they were soaring off into the night.

...

The ceremony was short and sweet; they arrived at the workshop in record time and he was announced the Guardian of Life, to which Tooth was exceptionally pleased. Bunny needed to get back to work on painting his eggs and Sandy was half asleep the whole time so they decided to make it quick. Afterwards, Bunny was in a hurry to get back to his Warren but North convinced him to stay little longer for eggnog; saying in his thick Russian accent to; "Not be stick in ze mud".

Jack was able to catch Geoff as he was sipping eggnog off in a corner of the Workshop.

"Hey." He aid, trying to act casual.

"Sup." He said cooly back.

Jack tried to think of some way to break the ice with him. "Um...Nice tattoos?"

Geoff gave him a sideward glance with a grin. "Nice hair."

"Touché" Jack said with a chuckle.

"So..." Jack started.

"So..." Geoff countered.

"When we were at Burnie's office, you seemed really... upset when Burnie said that that guy Manic was back. Did you know him before?"

Every muscle in Geoff's body tensed for a second, his eyes hardening as he glared into his eggnog.

Jack stepped away from him a little. "Oh crap, Sorry! Just... forget I even said anything."

Geoff watched as Jack began to back away, battling with himself inside of his head on what he should do next.

Eventually, one side won out over the other and he let a sigh escape from his mouth.

"Aw, fuck it. Fine! Come back." He said reluctantly. He relaxed his shoulders as Jack walked back to him.

Geoff took a huge gulp of the eggnog, downing its contents in less than a second.

Jack eagerly waited for Geoff to begin but kept quiet, opting to fiddle with his staff while he waited.

"I assume you already know about all about Manic." He stated more than asked, eyes staring down at his cup.

Jack shrugged. "Well, I know that he's the reason they dropped those two bombs on Japan." He said

"No." Geoff shook his head, eyes hardening.

Jack's eyes squinted quizzically; wasn't that what the Guardians had said? Now, Jack wasn't a genius and he despised any form of curricular learning, -honestly, it went against everything he stood for- but from what he remembered, -being alive at the time and all- was that there were two bombs.

As he was about to vocalize his thoughts, he was interrupted by Geoff's pointer finger being place in front of his face.

"One." Geoff stated.

"What?"

"One. There was only one bomb dropped on Japan that day." He hadn't even glanced in Jack's general direction since their conversation had started. His eyes, steadfast and unwavering stared forward, his emotions unreadable; although Jack could have sworn he saw a hint of pain and regret in them.

Jack decided that since he didn't want a repeat of what had happened earlier in Burnie's office he should tread lightly, since obviously it was a touchy subject. "What do you mean one bomb? I was alive when it happened. I read the articles, saw it on the TV's; people were talking about it everywhere!" He glanced over in the Guardians direction. They were too busy talking amongst themselves to notice their absence. He lowered his voice just to make sure, and continued.

"What I'm saying is, I was there. I know what I saw. Heck! I even went there myself just to see if it was true."

He remembered desperately not wanting to go. He had hoped it was some sort of sick hoax. Nobody would do such a thing like that he had thought. Nobody would be that evil. When he arrived in Japan an hour later, he remembered falling to his knees in disbelief. All the stories, the gossip; it was all true. And those sick twisted people had the audacity to CELEBRATE about it?

Tears were close to spilling from his eyes, but he cleared his throat, trying to prevent any unwanted emotions to reveal themselves to the man in front of him.

"Look-" his voiced cracked. He cleared his throat again. After he felt he had done it enough he continued. "Look, all I'm saying is: I saw the damage myself. Both in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. How could you possibly know that there was only one bomb? There's no way you could know unless you were...!"

"Oh shit" he thought, his eyes widening in realization.

"You-you _were_ there!" he half whispered half shouted. "On the day they bombed Japan, you were there!" He took a step back, eyes glaring accusingly at Geoff. "What did you do-"

Suddenly Jack felt something he thought he would never feel in his life, something that terrified him to no end: he felt cold; the kind of cold that penetrated the skin, that seeped into every nook and cranny of ones body. The temperature around him seemed to drop alarmingly. Along with the cold came an overbearing pressure weighing down on him. He strained to look over to the rest of the Guardians; they looked like they weren't even affected by what was going on. They just continued to talk amongst themselves, sans Sandy of course.

He looked back towards Geoff and something even more frightening; Geoff was looking at him now, furious eyes pierced into his like daggers; tearing at his flesh. Every second that passed by he felt- no- knew that he was going to die. There was no escaping it. It was over.

"Don't you ever assume that what happened was because of my choice." His voice was warped, almost demonic in a kind of way. The pitch deepened and he could see his eyes were glowing with a faint light.

Jack was just able to speak through the overwhelming pressure; despite the fear that took over him, he managed to utter a few sentences. "You killed thousands of people!" He choked out. "You murdered families."

Geoff's eyes widened, his eyes returning to normal. Suddenly the unwelcomed pressure released him from its grasp and the cold dissipated. He felt normal again.

This time it was Geoff who took a step back. "You-you're right." He whispered miserably, tears leaking from his eyes. He plopped down against the wall and covered his face with his hands.

Jack looked on from his place on the floor questioningly. Those terrifying eyes, the angry demeanor, it was all gone; replace with a broken shell. What had caused the change? Guilty people didn't cry for their deeds, atleast none that Jack could think of. So why was he crying? Unless-

Jack's eyes widened for the umpteenth time this day at realizing his mistake. He slowly inched his way towards Geoff's spot on the wall and sat down an arms length away from him, placing his hand on his shoulder carefully.

Geoff flinched at the gesture.

"Geoff...I'm sorry I shouldn't have accused you-"

"No-no you're right." He said. "I ruined lives, destroyed families." He let out a shaky breath and wiped away tears with his hands. After doing so he wrapped his arms around his legs. "IT was my fault it happened."

"He knew I would be there; Manic, that is. He knew my fucking route, knew I would be there after the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. He knew the presence of lost souls would lead me right to him. Dropping the bomb was only phase one."

Jack gulped. "Then what was phase two?"

Geoff sat there silent for a second before letting out a shaky breath. "Me." He said.

"When I showed up, he made extra sure that I saw him. The prick started bragging about how he was the one who made it happen. He went on about how humans were just bugs meant to be squashed by us spirits. The asshole even had the nerve to ask me to join him."

Geoff's grip tightened around his knees, scrunching up the fabric of his pant legs.

"I just got so...fucking angry! But of course that was exactly what he wanted. The only way the plan would work was if I got angry. The whole plan was riding on it. He had brought an empath with him, a very powerful one."

Jack had never seen one before but he sure as hell heard about them. Normal ones could only detect and feel the emptions of a person; their hopes desires, even their dreams. But he a had also heard that strong enough ones, like the one Geoff was talking about, could amplify and even control another beings emotions.

"He caught me off-guard. I had mental blocks. All sorts of defenses I had set up with the help of Ryan- a psychic that works for me. But I was irrational; so angry that I stopped thinking properly. He took that as his chance and took control of my emotions. Even for someone as powerful as me it takes time to shake off an empath. And by the time I had done it, it was already too late. Nagasaki was destroyed, most of it's inhabitants wiped out, It only took minutes, but when I came to everything was destroyed; buildings leveled, charred ground, and in front of me, there he lay. I had managed to gravely injure him," he let out a sour chuckle. "Too bad. If I were in control it wouldn't have even taken a second. I walked up to him; he still had that sick, twisted grin plastered on his face. Even as I sent him and his empath friend straight to hell he didn't stop smiling, as if this was what he had planned all along. Burnie showed up soon after. I told him I would accept whatever punishment he felt was necessary. But he didn't punish me. He hugged me and said that it wasn't my fault; that I had avenged those people by killing Manic."

Geoff shook his head, a dry smile on his face. "Fucking idiot."

Jack put his hand back on his shoulder, giving him a firm look. "You said it yourself Geoff, You were being controlled. It couldn't be helped."

As Geoff shook his head again his dry smile turned into a sad frown. "I shouldn't have let them get the jump on me. I lost control of my emotions and I and everybody else paid the price." He waved Jack off. "I don't expect you to understand. You've never had to live with the guilt of letting somebody down. Of failing and having somebody else pay the price."

Jack's face saddened, he looked down at the floor. "Actually, I have."

That caught Geoff's attention. He turned his head towards Jack

"When I died, I left my sister all alone. I was the only person that could make her smile. I failed and she probably thought it was her fault that I'm gone."

Geoff's face turned grim; he turned is head to face forward again. "No offence, but it's not the same."

Jack's looked at him with acceptance in his sad eyes. "None taken. I understand what happened to you was much worse but it still hurts."

Geoff nodded. "It does. I never forgave myself for what happened. Sometimes I think that I should have been punished. It would have made the guilt a whole lot easier to deal with." He said, unconsciously rubbing his arm.

For the first time since Jack met him, he really looked at his them; Geoff's arms he meant. They were covered in tattoos, and from what he could tell from his lightshow in Burnie's office; they were somehow connected to his powers. But if he looked closely, he could see scars running under the ink of the tattoos. There many, an almost uncountable number, some smaller than others and visa versa. They were almost completely hidden; he would have missed them if he were not as close as he was.

Geoff caught him staring and quickly pulled up the sleeves of his hoodie.

"Anyway," he continued, "I never understood it; why he smiled. Now I guess I know the answer. But the question still remains, why? Why go through all that? Literally go through hell and back just to take over the fucking world. There must be some reason that he did that. It just doesn't make sense."

After Jack's surprise wore down he thought about it for a second. " Come to think of it, Manny thought the same thing. That Manic must have some alternative goal."

Geoff nodded. "It's entirely possible." He sad.

He abruptly stood up and yawned; offering is hand to Jack as he did, which Jack gratefully accepted, although he did glance at his tattoos a couple times.

"Thanks." Geoff said. "I needed to get that off my chest."

Jack smiled warmly at him. "No problem. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Don't want to go through that again. by the way, what was that?"

Geoff smiled back. "It's called lots of things but us spirits call it 'spiritual pressure'."

"Appropriate." Jack murmered.

Geoff nodded. "It's something all spirits have, some more than others. Controlled you can use it to overpower someone else. Uncontrolled, it becomes a burden. Do you know how many times I knocked out other spirits just by walking past 'em? You have it too you know."

JAck looked at him qizzically. "Me?"

"Yeah," Geoff replied. "Weren't you listining? I can feel it now, it's wild; well hidden, but not controlled."

"Well hidden?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, I'm guessing Manny did it for you when you became a Guardian. It works for a while but you'll need to know how to contrill it. I could teach you if you want?"

Jack smiled. "Yeah," he said, "Yeah that'd be great."

They stood their for a while in silence. "SO!" Geoff suddenly shouted, grabbing the other Guardians attention and scaring the proverbial crap out of Jack. He began walking over to them, Jack following soon after. "I'm pooped as dicks. Where am I going to be staying while I'm with you guys?" He asked, rubbing his hands together.

"Staying?" Jack asked. "Don't you already live at Rooster Teeth?"

Geoff shook his head. "That won't do. I f this is gonna work I need to be somewhere where I can stay in the loop with what's going on."

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Make sense to me," He said, "But I usually stay at my lake in Burgess."

North looked at him. "My workshop may-"

"You can stay at Tooth's!" Bunny suggested half shouted.

Tooth glared at Bunnymund." WHAT!" she yelled.

Bunny ignored her. "She's got lots a' room, and you could see the Northern Lights from anywhere in her palace if we need you." He said looking at Tooth with a smirk.

North shrugged. "Sounds like plan to me." He said, also eying tooth.

Sandy gave a 'thumbs up.

"Bu-Wha-How-"

Geoff looked at her understandingly. "It's cool if you don't want me to stay at your palace." He said.

She waved her hands in a defensive manner. "N-no it's fine, completely fine!" she stuttered with a nervous chuckle.

North laughed and grabbed his coat. "Then there is no problem, yes?" He said.

"Come Geoff, I will prepare snow globe for trip."

As soon as Geoff was out of earshot, Tooth socked Bunny in the stomach, kneeling him over.

As he tried to catch his breath, Tooth half shouted, half whispered to him.

"What the actual _fuck_ are you doing!" she asked him, ignoring his gasps to reclaim his lost air.

JAck didn't know whether to laugh or gush at how adorable she sounded when she cussed. It _really_ wasn't her thing. But he let out a chuckle anyway, befor being silenced by a glare from the energetic fairy.

Once Bunnymund regained his composure he answered.

"Crikey! I'm trying to help you!" he said in a raspy voice.

Tooth looked at him with furious eyes. "What, you mean like on the sleigh?!"

"Yes!"

Wrong answer.

Tooth gave him a swift kick in the shin. "That was the most embarrassing moment of my life! I'm lucky it went as well as it did."

Bunny tried to answer as he hopped up and down on one foot. "Well It turned out all right didn't It?" He managed through gritted teeth.

SMACK!

Bunny lost his balance and crashed to the floor covering his head.

Tooth feigned to hit him again. "Alright! Sheesh!. Okay, maybe what I did was a little stupid."

"Very."

"Very stupid, but I'm doing you a favor."

SMACK!

"CRIKEY SHIELA! Would you just listen to me!" he said, nursing his aching head.

Tooth let up on the hitting, giving him a look that said "_this better be good or i'm hitting you again_".

"Let me ask you a question: Would you have talked to Geoff _at all_ If I hadn't made you sit next to him on the sleigh?"

Tooth was taken aback by this question. "Wel-I mean-I might have eventually." She stuttered meekly as she rubbed her upper arm, her entire demeanor changing to that of a defensive tone.

"Exactly! You wouldn't have; or ateast it would have taken you _forever_. If I hadn't have done that, you would have continued to watch the bloke from a distance instead of just going for it! You can't honestly tell me that you regret talking to Geoff, can you? And now," he continued, hoping that this really worked, "You have him all to yourself at the palace! No interruptions. Just you and him. I'm giving you the greatest opportunity of your life right now Tooth!"

Tooth fumbled for a bit with her words before sighing in defeat. "I...I guess you're right. That does sound pretty nice."

Bunny smiled triumphantly

"But I'm still mad at you!"

Jack laughed at the gob smacked look on Bunny's face.

Suddenly they could hear North yelling from across the workshop. "Tooth! Portal is ready!"

Tooth waved her goodbyes to Jack and Bunny before purposely hopping off the top of Bunny's head as she flew off.

"For a small little sheila she sure packs a wallop." He mumbled as he rubbed his sore everything.

Jack just chuckled.

Bunny turned to give him a small joking glare.

"So what did you and Geoff talk about the whole time, mate?" Bunny asked while standing up.

Jack was silent, looking over in the direction Geoff had left not minutes before. "Oh nothing much." He answered passively, a grim smile on his face, "Just gave me a History lesson is all."

And with that he flew off, leaving Bunny to think about his cryptic answer.

…...

**Bunnymund: You alright mate?**

**Me: *****sniffle***** I'm fine, these are manly tears.**

**Tooth: You sure?**

**Me: Yeah I'm good. *****wipes away tears*****. Anyway, I liked that chapter. Definitely my favorite so far.**

**North: Meh, it vaz alvight**

**Me: Don't start with me North!**

**North: All I am saying is it vould have been better if I wrote it.**

**ME: What! Listen here you jovial tub of lard-**

**Tooth: Well! That's all the time we have for now! Don't Forget to floss!**

**Me: And review!**

**North: And don't forget to send in Christmas list!**


	6. Chapter 4: Sleepover At Tooth Palace

Tooth didn't know what made her more nervous; the fact that Geoff Ramsey, the Grim Reaper and her big time crush was in her palace walking not two feet away from her, or the probability that he might find her room full of Achievement Hunter merchandise.

She bit her lip; sincerely hoping the latter didn't happen. She made a mental note to have some of her fairies to find a new Place to hide the items, less she have to deal with the embarrassment if Geoff happened to stumble upon it.

Meanwhile Geoff's usually half lidded eyes were opened wide in astonishment; eyes roaming the giant main room of the palace where Tooth kept all of the teeth. He twisted and turned as dozens of mini fairies whizzed by over his head, flying in and out of the palace to collect teeth and put them in their rightful place.

Tooth glanced in his direction, teeth tightening their grip on her lip as she noticed how adorable he looked when he got excited, like a kid in a candy shop.

She frowned. She never did like that metaphor. Why couldn't kids be excited by a trip to the dentist? Or picking a new toothbrush maybe? Now _that_ was exciting. Or at least to her. She sighed, momentarily depressed about the lack of care a lot of kids had for their teeth now a days; but she guessed her interests didn't carry over to the younger demographic.

"THIS PLACE IS FUCKIN' HUGE!"

Geoff shouted, momentarily scaring Tooth out of her mind. The echo carried all throughout the palace, bouncing off the walls and relaying the vulgar message back to them.

As Tooth recovered from her surprise, she gave a warm smile as Geoff let out childish laugh at his antics. It was funny, she thought, that someone as old as Geoff could still act so much like a child. She lost focus, glazing over with a look of lust as she drank in the unsuspecting spirits physique. Her eyes roamed over his wide shoulders, muscles tensing and relaxing every time a laugh escaped from his mouth. She worked her way down his back and arms, taking in the intricate designs, following every curve and line with her eyes. Finally her eyes rested on the proverbial jackpot; Geoff's perfect, firm...round...

She stood there for a few moments, eyes glazed over as she let her imagination run wild. She was so distracted by her self-indulgence that she hadn't noticed that the ever present buzzing of tiny fairy wings had stopped.

"Uh... Tooth? They're staring at me."

Tooth broke free from her trance, wiping a dribble of spit from the corner of her mouth.

"Wha-I wasn't-"

Just as she was ready to jump to her own defense, she realized exactly what he was talking about.

"Oh no." she whispered.

All around the palace her mini fairies had stopped their work, some even dropping the gold canisters containing dozens of precious teeth which held the most import memories of children around the world. And all of them were staring. Right. At. Geoff.

Now, being basically copies of Tooth, it would make sense that most of them would share many of the same interests; her love for dentistry for instance, video games, and an infatuation with a certain video making Grim Reaper.

Unlike her, however; most of them didn't quite have as high of a mental capacity. That isn't to say they aren't intelligent; no, they knew the basic do's and don'ts of their line of work, they had personalities and she had graced them with the gift of free will, it was just that when it came to situations that called for restraint; like this one for example, well, they kind of fell short. So naturally, if you put someone like Geoff in the room with them they'd be reduced to nothing but squealing fan girls.

And that was _very_ dangerous.

"Girls!" Tooth shouted, flying out in front of Geoff to try to stop their approach. But she did little to deter them as they went speeding past her, nearly knocking her out of the air in the process. She spun around quickly to make sure Geoff hadn't sustained any harm.

Geoff was surrounded by thousands of excitedly chirping fairies, all pushing and shoving to get closer to him; a few even had the co to fly up and touch him, only to faint soon after.

Geoff was laughing hysterically as more and more of the unconscious bodies of the smitten fairies piled up in his arms.

"I think they like me." He said with a chuckle.

Seconds later dozens of fairies where diving into Geoff's arms, jealous of their unconscious peers closeness to him; and soon Tooth couldn't even see his face anymore.

Tooth face palmed, letting out an exasperated sigh at her fairies' lack of control. She ignored the voice inside her head that was scolded her being a hypocrite; seeing as she was ogling Geoff not two minutes ago.

"GIRLS!" she shouted, letting herself be known. All of her fairies immediately "stood" at attention. She gave them all a look of disappointment; and if she was completely honest, a little bit of jealousy.

She pointed at the large spires used for storing the teeth, "Get back to work._ Now!._"

The effect was immediate, they took off and within seconds Geoff was left standing there arms now bear.

"Baby Tooth!" she called out.

There was a wriggling inside Geoff's jacket; the mound seemed to zip around from his back to his chest, tickling him in the process. Geoff couldn't keep in the waves of laughter as he frantically reached down the front of his hoodie and grasped his hand around the object; pulling it out.

In the palm of his hand was one of Tooth's mini fairies; except this one was different. Instead of being the uniform blue and green of the other fairies, she had a bright yellow feather sticking out of the top of her head much like tooth had.

The tiny fairy gave a comical solute to Tooth along with a small chirp.

Tooth waited for Geoff to calm down before she spoke. "Geoff, this is Baby Tooth." She said to a still chuckling Geoff. " She's my second in command and she helps run things around here. If you cant find me at any time just call for her."

Geoff opened his palm and let the little fairy fly up to his eye level. She gave him the same little solute she gave to Tooth; one that Geoff returned with a smirk. After doing so he held out his fist and BT did the same; touching her little fist to his with enthusiasm.

"Alright BT, back to work." She said, feeling a tinge of jealousy rise up in her chest.

The mini fairy nodded and flew off, giving one last wave to Geoff before joining her fellow fairies.

"Man I'm pretty fuckin' popular around here, aren't I?" Geoff asked Tooth.

She shrugged trying to make her voice sound as nonchalantly as possible. "Yeah well they watch your show sometimes."

"Oh really?" Geoff asked, turning around and walking backwards in front of Tooth. "And do you watch my show too?" he asked in a teasing voice.

Oh so this is how he wanted to play? _Two_ could play at this game.

"Nah, there's this really annoying guy In it."

"Oh really?" Geoff asked in a mocking tone.

"Yeah his name is Joseph Rodney or something? Yeah, he's got these stupid tattoos and always wears the same dumb hoodie." Tooth said nonchalantly, although she was trying to hold in her laughter.

Geoff let out a short burst of laughter; which Tooth mentally celebrated.

"_Yes! Way to go Tooth, you made him laugh! Score one for the Toothmeister!"_

"Really?" Geoff asked with a smile. "He sounds like a douche."

"Yeah he is."

Another short burst of laughter escaped Geoff's lips. Tooth smiled; his laugh was just so _adorable!_

They walked up a flight of stairs and down a hallway to the left. At the end of the hallway was a large set of double doors with dozens of fairies engraved into the wood. Tooth led Geoff up to the door and waved her hand towards it.

"This is my room, if you need me for anything don't hesitate to ask. Just make sure you check here when you look for me."

And Tooth really did mean _anything._

"_Bad Tooth!"_ she chided herself. "_Mind out of the gutter."_

Geoff walked up to the door and let his fingers over the details of the wooden carvings before placing the palm of his hand on the door and preparing to push.

Tooth took it back; anytime _but_ now he could go in.

Before Geoff could open the door., however; Tooth jumped in front of him, arms spread out wide.

"GEOFF!"

Geoff gave her a questionable look. "What? I want to see it." He said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You can't just walk in! I could have…underwear or something on the floor!"

Tooth blushed as Geoff eyed her up and down skeptically. "Tooth," he started, resting his gaze back on hers, "You don't wear any clothes."

Suddenly his skeptical look turned into one of mischief. His smile widened as he leaned closer to her.

"Unless, of course; you have something to hide?"

"Wha-No!" she said, blushing more at what he could be insinuating; and because he was half right. "I just want to clean up my room is all, don't want to seem like a slob do I?" she said with a nervous chuckle.

Geoff backed up a bit.

"Fine-"

Tooth let out a sigh.

"But you only have thirty seconds." He said with a smirk.

"What! You can't be serious-"

"Thirty" Geoff started"

"Geoff- this is _my _palace!-"

"Twenty-nine" he continued with a devious smile. "Better fuckin' hurry!"

Deciding it was no use she frantically flew into her room and closed the door shut behind her to insure he didn't see anything. Behind the door she could hear Geoff's continuous counting.

Scattered around her usually pristine room were dozens of Achievement Hunter memorabilia. On the wall were some posters of musicians she enjoyed listening to and some trash was scattered here an there from staying up late nights and just not giving a fuck.

"Fifteen-"

_What! Fifteen? That cheater! He's skipping numbers!_

Thinking fast she flew around the room picking up the empty ramen noodle cups and other trash and throwing them into her personal wastebasket in the corner of the room.

"Ten-" she heard Geoff count.

She kicked all of the merchandise under her bed; "_No time to find a place to put it._" She thought.

Next she pulled the Achievement hunter posters off of the wall and put them with the other merchandise.

"Four… Three…Two…One"

Tooth flew so she was hovering in front of the wooden doors as Geoff abruptly pushed them open.

"Ready or not; here I…_whoa!"_

Geoff looked around the room mesmerized, his eyes taking in the wonderful architecture of the room. First off; it was huge! Each light pink wall was at least 50 feet long with stunning designs painted in gold on each one. There was a king sized circular bed in the center of the room; sheets the same teal color of Tooth's feathers; gold trim outlined the silky fabric. The far wall was glass; a fancy couch sat in front of it allowing anybody to relax while they looked out towards the magnificent misty mountains. Even through his shoes he could tell the carpet was soft, like walking on a cloud. There was no ceiling, well, not really. In it's place was a large glass dome that allowed for stargazing on clear nights. On the wall was a button, which he guessed was used to cover the dome on stormy nights.

"…Holy…dicks…"

The room was amazing, everything perfect down to the tiniest detail.

He began to roam around the room, touching the fine sheets of the bed and gaze out the windows towards the misty mountains.

"This place is...AWESOME!" he shouted, his voice reverberating of the walls of her room. "Does my room look like this?!" he asked to mesmerized by the view to turn around.

Tooth let out a breath; counting her lucky stars that Geoff hadn't noticed anything out of place or stumbled upon something she might have neglected to hide.

"Well, it might be similar but no, it won't look exactly like-EEP!"

Taped on the door of her room was a large 36" by 48" poster of Geoff standing feet apart and arms crossed; a laid-back smirk evident on his face. As quickly as she could she tore the poster off of the door, just seconds before Geoff turned to face her.

"What?"

"Nothing! Just thought I saw a-a snake! Yeah, a snake!" A snake Tooth? Really? Nothing else?

But to her surprise it seemed to do the trick. Geoff was from the window to the cushions of the couch in a split second.

"Ahh! Snake!"

Tooth would have been clutching her stomach as she rolled around on her carpeted floors if those same hands weren't clutching the rolled up poster behind her back. Despite this small chuckles did manage to escape her lips. An all powerful spirit afraid of a tiny reptile? Who would've guessed?

"Geoff; Geoff I's okay I think I was just seeing things."

Geoff looked at Tooth from atop the couch, a confused expression on his face. "What?" h asked in a cracked voice.

""I said," she continued, edging herself closer to her bed. "I was just imagining it. There is no snake."

"Oh," he said embarrassed. " I-I mean, of course! Who's afraid of big, dumb…scaly…slippery…snakes." He said with a shiver.

"Not me of course."

Tooth gave him a sarcastic smile. "Good to know." She said.

Geoff pretended to straiten out his clothes as if nothing had happened, and returned to his spot by the window. Tooth took this as her chance to quickly zoom over to her bed and toss the poster under her bed. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Let's go Geoff, I still have to show you you're room." Tooth said waving him over to her.

"Tits! Let's go!"

Geoff sprinted past Tooth and out the door so fast he was like a blur.

It took Tooth a while to come to the realization that Geoff was no longer in the room. She let out a chuckle as she thought about how childish he was acting; as if the thought being an all-powerful deity had never crossed his mind. Suddenly her eyes widened; he had no idea where he was going. Her palm made contact to her forehead; resounding with a painful smack. With no time to lose she sped out the doors of her room and through the many winding hallways.

It didn't take long to find him. After only a few minutes of searching she ran into him. Literally. As she turned the corner she flew smack dab into his side. For what it was worth, he didn't so much as flinch; however for Tooth that was a different story. She ricocheted off of Geoff and on to her rump with a squeak. Tooth rubbed her nose as she gazed up at the unmoving spirit; standing still as a steel wall and about as durable as one too, if her aching face had anything to say about it. He seemed to be doing his own version of a thousand yard stare, if that included having ones mouth gaping open and drooling onto the floor.

"Ow! Geoff, wad are you doig?" she asked irritated. She gave her nose a squeeze and winced as she felt a sharp pain. Definitely broken. She pulled her fingers away to reveal the tips of them covered in blood.

She cringed as the bones in her nose reset themselves; one of the perks of being immortal. Spirits healed quickly, but as an immortal any injury sustained healed almost instantly. Well, sort of. It depended on the severity.

As the last fragment of bone fit itself back into place she stood up and strode over to Geoff with a not-so-happy look on her face. She stood there for a while with her arms crossed waiting for him to notice her. After a while she got tired of waiting and decided to let herself be known. She cleared her throat: nothing. She tried again only to receive similar results.

Tooth finally turned to see what he was looking at and realization dawned on her face. She rolled her eyes at how obvious it was and continued on her quest to snap Geoff out of his trance.

"Geoff"

Silence.

Oh, he wanted to play this game? Fine. It was officially on.

Taking a deep breath she screamed as loud as her little vocal chords would allow.

"GEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOFFFFFF!"

Nothing.

She hung her head in defeat.

Suddenly he spoke.

"It's-It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen…"

Was he crying? She rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless.

"Geoff, its no big deal-"

"No BIG DEAL?!" he shouted not taking his eyes off the masterpiece that his eyes had the utmost pleasure to look upon.

Before him, in a room larger than Tooth's, was an arcade. An honest to goodness, legit arcade.

There were machines lined up in rows; Pacman, Donkey Kong; you name it, it was there. And at the far wall was the straw that broke the camels back: on the wall was most likely the most massive flat screen TV he had ever seen before. Hooked up to it were numerous amounts of consoles; XBOX, PlayStation, N64; It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life. In front of it was quite possibly the comfiest couch in the world.

"It's just a hobby. I collect them." She said sheepishly.

Finally he turned to her for the first time.

"I think I'm in lo-"

He stopped.

She looked at him; waiting for him to finish his sentence.

"You're what Geoff?" she asked expectantly.

"Shit-what happened to your nose?"

She felt her nose, which still had drops of blood on it.

Geoff walked closer to her, gently cradling her face in his palm, examining her bloody nose.

"Oh, this? I , uh, s-sorta bumped into you while you were standing there. I-it was my bad. I should've been paying attention to where I was going." She said, allowing him to turn her head with his hand.

"It's no big deal; It's healed already."

Geoff gave her a guilty look. "Don't do that."

"Don't do what?" she asked.

"Don't write yourself off as unimportant. It is a big deal, don't act like it's not."

"O-ok Geoff. Sure." She said, that ever so annoying blush returning to her cheeks. She hated when that happened. He had no idea how much his words affected her.

Geoff let go of her face and stepped back with a thin smile.

"I'll make it up to you."

"No-no; you don't have to." She said automatically.

"'Course I do. It was my mistake and you got hurt because of me. How about this; I owe you one. You can call out the favor whenever you want; it doesn't have to be right now." He waited expectantly for an answer.

For the second time today, Tooth's mind wandered off; thinking of all of the 'favors' she could ask of Geoff.

Geoff was starting to get a little worried about Tooth. She had been standing there for a while with a blank look on her face. Was that a blush?

"Hey, uh, Tooth; you okay there bud?"

Tooth snapped out of her fantasizing with a shake of her head.

"Wha- um, yeah. I-I'll think about it." She replied once she regained her bearings. She definitely had it bad for Geoff. She really needed to get that under control; she couldn't zone out like that during a battle.

"Good." He said returning to his normal happy –go-lucky mood. "Now!" he shouted, startling Tooth "Lets get that nose cleaned up; _then _we can come back here and break in these bad boys."

He was just about to walk off again when Tooth latched on to the back of his hoodie.

"Oh no you don't." she said.

"What?" Geoff asked turning around to face her.

Tooth crossed her arms and glared up at Geoff. "I can clean up my nose by myself. _You_, however; are going to your room and getting some rest."

Geoff turned towards her with a perplexed look. "What do you mean? It's like, the middle of the afternoon."

Tooth shook her head, not deterred at all. "You've said yourself you were up all night working. If we're gonna win this war we need you at your best."

"But I'm not even tired!" Geoff complained like a child, before letting out a loud yawn.

Tooth gave him a knowing look. "Oh really?" she asked; a smile threatening to spread across her face.

"Yeah!" Geoff's voice cracked. He knew it was pointless, but by now he was just biding his time. "I'm so not tired, you know what they call me?"

"What do they call you Geoff?" Tooth asked sarcastically.

"Fuckin', uh… Geoff the not tired guy."

Tooth let out a snort. "Geoff, just go to bed."

"But I don't wanna!" Geoff started complaining.

Tooth began to push Geoff in the direction of his room but he went limp, allowing his body to slump to the floor and coincidentally onto Tooth.

"Geoff!" Tooth yelped surprised. She pushed and kicked and tried desperately to get out from under him.

"Geoff, If you don't get up this instant-" Tooth said as she continued her struggle to get out from under him.

All the commotion had gained the attention of some nearby fairies. They flew closer, either laughing or glaring at the master with jealousy. Finally Tooth managed to pry herself out from under Geoff and stand back one her feet shakily. She dusted off herself and glared down at Geoff's limp body.

"Geoff-" she started.

"No!" he shouted back in an immature voice.

This would have been so adorable If It weren't so irritating.

"Geoff," she started again. "Don't make me do this Geoff." She said firmly.

Geoff groaned from his position on the floor, but besides that did not move an inch.

"Fine." Tooth said with a determined look. Bracing herself, she got a firm grip on Geoff's leg and proceeded to drag him through the halls of her palace; the mini fairies that had gathered earlier following at a safe distance.

After a few minutes of dragging the heavy body of Geoff through the twisting and turning hallways that she had dedicated to memory.

By the time she had made it to the wooden doors of Geoff's room she was panting and sweating. Allowing herself a few moments of rest, she leaned up against the wall next to the door and waited for her breathing to calm down.

She turned back to the limp body of Geoff. "Come on Geoff, we're here." She said breath still a little uneven from the trek there. She waited for a response; heck even a whiney 'no' would be nice, but instead a subtle snore made it's way from Geoff's mouth.

Tooth made her way around to the top end of Geoff and sure enough his eyes were closed and a steady stream of drool was leaking out of his mouth trailing all the way back down the hallway.

Tooth let out a dramatic groan and grabbed onto Geoff's leg again. She pushed open the door with her butt, struggling to do so and pull him through at the same time. She managed to get herself and most of Geoff's body through before the door swung closed on Geoff's head. Tooth cringed at the sound of wood meeting bone. She continued to drag Geoff body to the bed. Wow; not exactly how she hoped it would be like. With a grunt of exertion, she pushed Geoff half up onto the bed before flying over to the other side and pulling him on the rest of the way. She half-hazardly tossed the blanket over Geoff so it only cover half of his body and made her way slowly back to the door.

As she neared the partially opened door to the bedroom she heard the familiar flapping of tiny wings and the small squeaks and chirps that accompanied them. Tooth opened the door to see her fairies pushing and shoving each other to get a better look inside the room.

It didn't take long for them to notice Tooth was standing right in front of them; and when they did all movement stopped. Tooth stared at them for a while; no sound except for the fast beating of their wings.

"Go." Tooth said simply; pointing off down the hallway where they came from. The results were instantaneous; dozens of fairies rushed to get back to work, lest they feel the ire of their creator.

Tooth let out another sigh, shaking her head at the girls' antics before flying off to do some work of her own.

**-Five Minutes Before-**

A pair of small red eyes watched from the shadows as Tooth began dragging Geoff's motionless body through the hallways. She had heard about the arrival of the famous Geoff Ramsey by listening in on the excited chattering of her colleagues as they passed by but she had to see it for herself.

She kept to the shadows as she followed Tooth down the winding hallways of the palace; shying away from the light anytime one of the fairies flew by. She could see a few had the same idea as her and were following Tooth too, but she didn't make herself known or fly over to join them; instead she opted to stick with her modes of transportation.

After a while of following from a distance the figure saw Tooth go into one of the guest rooms; the fairies that were following her crowding around to see through the tiny crack between the wall and the door that Tooth had left. Suddenly the door swung open and the nosy fairies were in a staring match with the Tooth fairy herself, a staring match that ended seconds later as Tooth sternly told them to get back to their jobs.

The figure ducked again as the fairies flew off, Tooth shaking her head then following soon after. She cautiously stepped out into the light after making sure the coast was clear; revealing sleek black feathers; with green feathers and a longer yellow feather sticking out of her head.

She began taking tentative steps towards the door but stopped. She wanted to meet Geoff; she really did, but she was afraid. She was afraid that he would be disgusted with her; ridicule and shun her like so many of the other fairies. It had always been her dream to see him, and now that she had the chance she couldn't even muster up the courage to do so. Completely worthless; she chided herself; maybe the others were right? She was just a mistake.

With a teary eyed frown the unknown fairy backed back into the shadows and curled up into a ball; allowing herself to quietly sob as she waited for the day to end and the moon to rise back into the sky.

* * *

><p><strong>Me: A new character approaches! I wonder who it could be? Well, I already know; but you don't! If you've read up to this point please remember to leave a comment with constructive <strong>**criticism, thoughts, etc. It's all appreciated. **


	7. Chapter 5: Of Metaphors and Sad Memories

Jack flew through the snowy mountains of Southeast China; his sights set on the hazy outline of Tooth's Palace off in the distance. The sun was high in the sky, casting a yellow glow over anything that was within its reach.

Jack yawned. Flying through different time zones had taken some adjusting to, but over the years he had gotten used to it. More or less.

Ever since they had parted ways at North's Workshop, Jack had been thinking about Geoff's offer to train him to control his powers.

It was actually Jamie who had insisted he go- really, he was going to go whether he agreed or not but seeing Jamie's ecstatic face only reinforced his decision.

He had discussed the Guardians predicament with Jamie earlier that morning; and although he was a little frightened by the thought of an all out war, Jack had managed to calm him down by ensuring that Manny had it under control. When Jack told him about Geoff and his offer to train him, however; Jamie's expression seemed to change from worry to excitement in the blink of an eye. Questions began to fly out of his mouth at lightning speed, from "Holy cow! He's a spirit too?!" To "do you think you could get me his autograph?".

It had taken a lot of time; and the promise of an autograph from Geoff Ramsey, but after a while Jack had managed to calm him down. After that, he began to answer his other questions; relaying the events leading up to the Grim Reaper joining their ranks as a Guardian.

And now here he was, on his way to follow through with his decision.

Jack's feet touched down on the tile floors of Tooth's Palace; eyes taking in the amazing architecture that never ceased to amaze him. The golden rays of the sunset only adding to the beauty of the spires that hung from the ceiling.

Suddenly he was rushed by a swarm of fairies anxious to greet him. Jack spotted Baby Tooth in the crowd and gave her a warm smile.

"Hey BT, have you seen Tooth around?" He asked.

The tiny fairy gave a squeak of confirmation, motioning for the winter spirit to follow her.

As Jack floated after the energetic fairy, the large crowd followed. With every twist and turn of the hallways the group of fairies loomed over him like a cloud of feathers and shiny wings.

Jack lowered himself to the ground as BT stopped in front of a set of doors that led to Tooth's office.

Giving a thankful smile to Baby Tooth he pressed his hand on the wooden door. He stopped; he could hear what sounded like muffled laughter reverberating through the door. Was that Tooth?

Throwing caution to the wind, he shrugged and abruptly tossed open the door, strolling casually into Tooth's office.

"Hey Tooth, what's up?" He asked as the door swung close behind him.

Tooth let out a frightened yelp as she slammed the lid lid of her computer down.

"Geoff!" she shouted automatically. "I was just, uh,-"

She stopped herself short as she noticed the person that had interrupted her, *ahem* private time, wasn't exactly the person she thought it was.

"...Jack?"

Jack gave a small wave accompanied by a cocky smile. "Hey princess;" he said walking closer to her desk.

"Just, what, exactly?" he asked as he leaned on his staff.

"J-just, um,... doing work! Lots of work; serious, tooth related work." she stated nervously, protectively sliding her laptop closer to her.

"Tooth related work huh..." he asked skeptically.

"Y-yes." she replied hastily.

"On your laptop?" he continued slowly.

"Right..."

Tooth sat there as Jack continued to stare at her; wriggling nervously in her chair with a blush on her cheeks as her eyes danced across the room; looking anywhere but at Jack.

Feeling as though he had tormented Tooth enough, Jack decided to let it slip this time, instead refocusing on the reason he was in Tooth's palace in the first place.

"Anyway, you're probably wondering why I'm here." he said, lifting his staff off the ground and giving it a twirl.

"Yes..." she said cautiously letting out a shaky breath.

Jack continued to twirl his staff as he whistled a jovial tune; giving Tooth hinting glances as he sat on her desk.

Tooth rolled her eyes at his antics. Letting out a sigh she asked sarcastically, "So why are you here Jack?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked Tooth!" he said a little too enthusiastically, hopping off of her desk. "I'm looking for Geoff actually. You happen to know where he is?"

Tooth looked at him questioningly.

"In his room; why?"

"Me and him are gonna do a little training session together. He's teaching me how to control my spiritual pressure; or whatever it was" He said jokingly. "Wanna' come with?"

Tooth shook her head. "Maybe some other time Jack, I'm kind of busy right now." She answered, eyes darting from Jack to the computer nervously.

Jack gave her a skeptical smirk.

"Riiight," he said, drawing out the 'right' for effect. "The 'serious, tooth related work'."

Tooth blushed; thumbs twirling under her desk as she glanced out the window.

"Okay, fine;" Jack continued. "Don't let me distract you. I just need some directions and I'll be on my way."

"Oh, we'll ok then. Baby Tooth!" She called to her assistant.

The door gave a creak, having been pushed by the fairy in question just enough so she could squeeze through.

BT hovered over to Jack's side, going another tiny solute to show she had her complete and utter attention.

"Could you take Jack to Geoff's room please?"

The tiny fairy nodded; waving for the guardian of fun to follow her.

Just as the duo was turning to head out the door, Tooth called out one last thing to winter spirit.

"Oh, and Jack?" She paused waiting for the fellow guardian to turn his head.

"Try and wake him gently, alright? He's still pretty worn out from the other night."

Waving her off Jack turned to follow BT again.

"Please;" he said cooly, "gentle is my middle name. You just worry about your 'work'," he said adding air quotations with his fingers; "and I'll worry about getting Geoff up."

And on that note he slammed the door shut behind him and flew after Baby Tooth to find the missing reaper, leaving Tooth with a sinking feeling in her gut.

Pushing the feeling back for now, Tooth waited until she heard the rushing of wind that carried Jack Frost fade before leaving her seat and flying over to the door.

She locked the door to her office with a silent 'click', ensuring that her privacy would not be invaded upon again.

He zipped back over behind her desk, gently opening the lid before resuming the paused video.

Displayed on the screen was a YouTube video with the title of 'Geoffapalooza'. Sitting back in her seat she continued where she left off; sniggering and snorting as the best moments of Geoff flashed across the screen.

Jack flew after BT through the palace hallways until she stopped in fron of another set of large doors.

Thanking BT before she flew away to get back to work, Jack quietly pushed open the doors, allowing them to swing closed silently behind him.

He whisteled at it's impressive size; twirling as he walked to farther into the dimly lighted room to take it all in. After a while his eyes settled on the sleeping form of Geoff, sprawled out and half hanging off the large bed in the center of the room. Walking closer, he saw the small stream of spittle leaking from the corner of his mouth.

Giving a wistful sigh he leaned forward, placing all of his weight on his staff.

"Aww," he said. "How adorable."

And he then proceeded to push him out of the bed, taking pleasure in his screams during his short plummet to the ground.

"Fuuuuuu-" WHAM!

Jack burst out laughing as Geoff's face made contact with the carpeted floor of his temporary room.

For a while Geoff didn't move; opting to lie on the floor and deal with the humiliating situation he had found himself in.

Having enough of Jack's laughter; Geoff slowly sat up from his spot on the floor; rubbing his nose and sending a hateful glare towards the laughing winter spirit.

"Fucking butts dude;" he mumbled from behind the finger of his hand. "What the fuck do you want?"

Jack quieted his laughing, deciding that it was better not to piss off the person who he wanted help from.

Well, not any more than he already had anyway.

"Training." he said simply; as if the answer was all the information Geoff needed to know.

With a groan Geoff grabbed the sheets off of the bed and fall back onto the floor; pulling the covers up and over his head.

"No." came his muffled reply from under the sheets as he turned to face away from the too loud and annoying sound of Jack's voice.

Jack's shoulders slumped back as he let out a gargled moan; frustrated with the new guardians outright refusal.

"Why not?" he complained, "You said you would."

"That was before you pushed me out of the fucking bed, dickhead."

Jack patience was beginning to waver. With a frustrated growl he stomped his foot on the ground like a child.

"But you promised!"

Suddenly Geoff froze, his body going rigid.

This didn't go unnoticed by Jack however; who mistook his reaction as a sign of Geoff reconsidering. Now all he had to do was reel him in.

Meanwhile Geoff's eyes had glazed over; his mind flashing back through old memories to the face of a little girl. Her eyes were filled with sadness and disappointment and she dawned a frown that looked out of place on her usually joyful face.

"Daddy, I thought we were going to go see the boats at the dock today." She whined in her high-pitched voice. The girl was standing in front of him, her small, frail figure silhouetted in the doorway.

He was dressed in a royal robe, a deep forest green with rich golden accents.

"Not now Millie, Daddy has important work to do." He replied. He was sitting at a large oak desk, paperwork piled chest high in front of him; and to his left, placed carefully besides the stacks of paper, was an elegant crown. It was a shiny gold, encrusted with expensive jewels and gems, no doubt worth a fortune.

He was sitting in his office; the one he used long before Rooster Teeth ever existed. It was extremely grandiose, with large charts and official documents lining the walls

"But daddy, you promised!" She said, tears welling up in her eyes.

Geoff didn't reply; instead pulling out another small pile of papers that had made their home on his desk.

The little girl, now identified as Millie, turned away from her father and made her way out of the large doors to his office, and into the beautiful, bright outdoors.

"Fine," she said sniffling. "I guess I'll get mommy to take me."

And with that she left, the doors closing gently behind her as she wiped stray tears from her eyes.

Geoff didn't worry about it too much. He had important things to do. This paperwork wasn't going to finish itself. Besides; he could always make it up to her tomorrow

If only he'd known that there wouldn't be a tomorrow.

He was brought back to the present by Jack's voice.

"I guess I'll just go ask someone else then."

Jack was worried that he had been mistaken. He had almost reached to the door and Geoff hadn't uttered a word.

Jack placed his hand on the door, when Geoff shouted from behind him.

"Fine."

Jack slowly turned to face him. He had sat up from his spot on the floor; his arm outstretched and a desperate look on his face. He cleared his throat and allowed himself to calm down; repeating himself a short few seconds later.

"Fine. I'll train you now."

"YES!" Jack shouted, flying up into the air and doing a little flip.

"But,"

Jack paused in mid celebration; arms and legs spread out on either side like a starfish.

"-you have to do whatever I say, no matter what. No complaining, no pussy-ing out." He continued, sticking out his hand to be shaken.

"Do we have a deal?"

Jack hesitated for a second. "And you won't make me do anything embarrassing, right?"

Geoff gave a small smile.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Jack floated slowly over to him and grasped onto his hand, giving it a firm shake.

"Then you've got yourself a deal." He said with a smile.

"Good." Geoff relied; grunting as he got up to his feet. "I'll meet you outside in about, uh, ten minutes. I need to get some things. Be ready by the time I get out there."

With a flash of red his scythe appeared in his hand and in one swing he tore open a portal behind him.

"See you in ten minutes."

Without another word he walked through the portal and it closed up behind him.

Overwhelmed with excitement, Jack sprinted out the door, alternating between flying and running on the walls as he screamed down the hallway.

Jack sped through the hallways, planning on making it to their Geoff's rendezvous point in record time. He suddenly came to a halt in midair; a thought popping in his head.

What about Tooth?

I mean, he guessed she would rather be doing...whatever it is she was doing, but going past that, with a full out war between the most powerful spirits this world, or any other, has ever seen on the horizon; maybe getting her to join wouldn't be such a bad idea. Of course, there's the matter of convincing her. Actually he took that back, It wouldn't take much convincing.

Having made up his mind, Jack flew off in the direction of Tooth's office.

Tooth leaned back in her chair, having just finished watching Geoffapalooza on her laptop. With a yawn she closed the lid and stretched her back, letting out a sigh of pleasure as she heard the vertebrae in her back pop back into place.

Tapping her fingers on her desk she began to ponder what she could do now. Maybe she could help her fairies with their runs? She looked out the window, then at the clock on her desk; It was at least two o'clock, and she didn't very much feel like doing anything. Giving another stretch she decided on heading to her room to take a nap before the night shift.

As she was standing up Jack came busting into the room, startling her yet again. She flew backwards in surprise, bumping into her swivel chair and crashing unceremoniously to the ground.

Rubbing her sore posterior, she glared up at embarrassed face of the winter spirit.

"Stop doing that!" she shouted angrily.

Jack smiled apologetically; rubbing the back of his head.

"Heh heh. Sorry about that."

Tooth allowed her glare to subside.

Letting out a sigh, she stood up and brushed off her feathers.

"What is Jack? I trust that you found Geoff just fine?"

Jack nodded, leaning on the door frame with his staff slung over his shoulder.

"Yeah, I was actually just on my way to meet him outside. I was checking to see if you wanted to join us one last time." he said nodding his head off in the direction of the window.

Tooth finished dusting herself off and calmly set her chair back up at her desk.

"No thanks, Jack. I was thinking of taking a nap before going out on the night shift. Maybe some other time?"

Jack let out an exasperated sigh as he let his staff drop to his side.

"Don't you get it? With this war happening, there might not be a tomorrow! Thats why we need to take every chance we can to prepare for it."

Jack paused for a second. 'Is this what it feels like to be responsible' he shuddered. 'It feels...weird.'

Tooth sucked on her teeth, debating with herself on what she should do.

'Fine' Jack thought. 'I didn't want it to come to this but you've forced my hand.'

"Okay." Jack said, closing his eyes and letting out a dramatic breath. Tooth looked up from the spot on the floor. "You don't have to; it's fine."

Jack turned around and made his way out of the room.

"Too bad. He said he was going to go shirtless too. Oh well." He said over-dramatically as he closed the door behind him.

Now all he had to do was wait.

He could hear the muffled voice of Tooth arguing with herself as he leaned against the wall of the hallway. It went on for a little while longer, Jack was almost convinced it hadn't worked; until he heard the flapping of her wings and the creaking of the wooden door to her office opening.

Tooth popped her head out looking directly at him as if she knew he had been there the whole time.

"I hate you so much."

Jack just smiled. "I know."

Tooth sagged her shoulders as she let out another sigh.

"I'll get my swords."

Tooth could see the outside as he raced down the hallway after Jack, swords strapped securely to her waist. They broke out into the chilly air, and the first thing they saw was Geoff standing at the edge of a nearby cliff, duffle bag tossed half-hazardly to the ground at his side.

Geoff looked up from his watch and directly at Jack; his foot tapping impatiently on the ground.

"You're late."

Jack took a few seconds to catch his breathe before speaking.

"Sorry, *huff* went to get *huff* Tooth." He replied, nodding his head towards Tooth.

Geoff looked at her surprised; as if just noticing her being there.

Tooth gave a little wave.

"Sorry Geoff, Jack *ahem* persuaded me into joining you guys in some training. We were late because I thought I'd get my swords and bring them with me; just in case." She said timidly, brushing back a few feathers on her head self-consciously. "Sorry." She apologized again.

Geoff eyed the two sabers hanging from her waist, causing Tooth to squirm ever so slightly.

"Fine." He let up.

Jack let out a breath.

"But," Geoff continued, causing Jack to let out a groan. "Before we start, we have to make sure Tooth doesn't chicken out on us; no offense of course."

Tooth gave a determined smile.

"Don't worry Geoff, you can count on me."

Geoff leaned over and wagged his finger in front of her face, causing her smile to drop.

"Uh uh uh." He said standing up straight. "Repeat after me. I-"

Tooth gave him the 'you've got to be kidding' look, before deciding it wasn't worth the hassle. With a sigh, Tooth repeated his words.

"I"

"State your name."

Tooth gave him another look; her patience wearing thin.

"State your name." She repeated sarcastically.

Geoff raised his eyebrow. "You're only making this harder for yourself."

Groaning like a child, Tooth gave in.

"I, Toothiana,"

Geoff nodded before continuing.

"Swear on my honor,"

"Swear on my honor," Tooth repeated.

"Not to be a pussy."

Tooth felt her cheeks heat up as she heard Jack bust out laughing behind her.

"Geoff! You can't seriously-"

He raised an eyebrow; a smile threatening to make its way across his face.

Tooth let out another frustrated groan. Bracing herself, she mumbled something incoherently.

Jack's laughter increased; Geoff barely able to stop himself from joining in.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Geoff chuckled.

Tooth's blush deepened. She tried again, louder this time, but her voice barely rose above a whisper.

Geoff leaned in closer, cupping his hand around his ear. "What? I think a fly passed gas over in Arizona, I couldn't quite hear you."

Oh, he was definitely lucky she had it bad for him. Crossing her arms, Tooth decided to just get it over with.

"Fine!" She said. "I Toothiana, promise not to be a...pussy."

Geoff clapped his hands together.

"Fuckin' finally." He said. "That wasn't so bad was it?"

Tooth didn't give a reply; instead, furrowing her brow and giving her best pouty face, as she tried to ignore the dying winter spirit that was rolling on the ground besides her.

Geoff waited until Jack had quieted down before he spoke.

"Okay, uh, so what is it you wanted again?" he asked scratching his head.

Jack wiped away a tear. "Whew." He sighed, standing up straight. "You were going to teach me how to use my spiritual pressure or whatever."

Geoff nodded. "Right, okay then. You might want to sit down for this."

Jack and Tooth both followed his instructions; sitting down crisscross applesauce on the cold stone ground. The wind whistled as it blew past them sending shivers up Tooth's spine.

"Okay, where to begin..." Geoff said, rubbing his chin.

"How about just explaining it to me first." Jack suggested.

"Uh, fuckin' good plan. Glad I thought of it." Geoff replied.

Jack pouted.

"Okay, so every living being has a certain type of energy that keeps them alive, right? Depending on where you go, it's called a shit-ton of different names; manna, magic, chi, chakra, haki, etcetera. Now, there are a handful of beings that can access this power; for example, spirits. In some worlds, including this one, even regular humans have been able to manipulate this energy over the years and use it to their advantage." he stopped to make sure the two Guardians were following along. After confirming that they were, he continued on with his lecture.

"There are many ways that it can be used; from sensing opponents and enhancing your strength, to casting spells and knocking out opponents without lifting a pinky; but we'll get to those things later. Right now let's focus on getting you to control it. You seem to have gotten pretty far on your own, but you're no where near in control enough to take on some of the big dogs we're going up against." he said.

"Tooth, I need you as an example. I assume you can control yours, correct?"

Tooth nodded.

"Great. To prevent any mishaps, I'm going to have you demonstrate instead of me." he nodded.

From her spot on the ground she closed her eyes, her shoulders relaxing. She sat like that for a few seconds; perfectly still like a statue. Suddenly, they snapped open again and Jack stared in wonder as he felt a wave of power wash over him.

But this was different from Geoff's spiritual pressure. It wasn't dark and forboding; but instead warm and comforting, the same feeling he felt when he regained his memories. At the same time; however, there was an edge to it; as if at the same time it was dangerous, making his breath catch in his throat.

After a few seconds Tooth let up, her spiritual pressure receding.

Geoff nodded approvingly, "Noice, you seem to have near perfect control of your spiritual pressure already." He said approvingly. Tooth smiled back proudly.

Jack was amazed; he had no idea that Tooth was so powerful. In fact, this just made him want to see how powerful he was even more.

"But wait," he started, making Geoff turn to face him. "Why does hers feel so much different than yours? When I felt yours in No-" he stopped himself, almost letting slip their little scat at North's workshop. "I-in Burnie's office, it felt more ... deadly. More dangerous." he said, hoping Tooth hadn't caught his slip up.

Geoff nodded, pondering Jack's question for a second. "Well," he started, scratching his stubbled chin, "Every beings energy has a unique feeling to it. No two are exactly the same. The feeling it gives off is attributed to that persons characteristics and how powerful they are. For example, what did you feel when Tooth released her spiritual pressure?" he asked expectantly.

"It reminded me of when i got my memories back." Jack sad almost immediately. "When I got my teeth back from Pitch on that ice shelf." he furrowed his brow as if trying to concentrate on something. "But it also felt suffocating, like it had a sort of edge to it."

"Good observation." he nodded. "Since Tooth is the -uh, Guardian of Memories, naturally it would make sense. As for that 'edge' you were talking about; the more powerful a spirit is, the more potent their energy. As the Guardians, yours are exceptionally so." he said turning to Jack.

"Alrighty then. Your turn snowball."

Jack gave him annoyed look but nodded. "I already have Bunny giving me pet names, I don't need you doing it too. Okay; now how do I start?" he asked closing his eyes.

"Just try to channel your energy the same way you do when you shoot your ice blast; but instead of channeling it into your staff, release it."

"And while you do that, I'm gonna work with Tooth." Geoff said reaching his arm out to Tooth who accepted it gratefully; allowing him to help her to her feet.

He grunted a farewell; too focused on getting the technique right to give a proper goodbye or lend a witty remark.

Tooth floated after Geoff to a spot about thirty feet away from where Jack sat.

Geoff motioned for Tooth to stop before walking another ten or so feet farther and turning so that he was facing her.

"Alright; I assume you know how to use those toothpicks of yours." he said, gesturing to the swords strapped to Tooth's waist.

Tooth nodded.

"Okay then," he began, getting into a ready stance. "Come at me."

Tooth gave him a quizzical look. "Excuse me?" she asked, not exactly sure how to respond.

With a flick of his wrist Geoff's scythe appeared in his hand, the dangerous red glow disappearing soon after. "You heard me. We're gonna be going up against some of the most dangerous spirits in existence; I have to see if you can actually fight before I put you up against one.

Tooth hesitated for a second longer before complying; drawing her twin sabers from their sheath. Light danced across their razor sharp edges; the blades glinting in the late afternoon sun.

"Alright, but don't come crying to me if you get hurt." she said jokingly.

"I'll remember that." he said with a smirk.

Tooth took a moment longer to mentally prepare herself before charging at the newly appointed Guardian, her wings closing the distance in a matter of seconds.

But Geoff was faster.

Tooth took a wild swing at the Grim Reaper but he seemed to vanish into thin air, like he had never been there in the first place. Out of pure instinct she raised her sword to her side, barely blocking Geoff's scythe from taking her head off. Her heart beat quickly as she stared into her reflection in the black blade that was just inches from her face.

Geoff smiled. "Pretty good." he said calmly, as if the fact he had almost killed her hadn't crossed his mind. He lowered his arm to his side letting his tattoos re-absorb his scythe.

He gently grasped Tooth's hands in his, causing her to blush. He adjusted her arms so that one was further out in front; swords pointed ever so slightly towards each other so they almost created an 'X' with the blades

"Here," he said kindly; "Keep your guard up. Always be ready to block an attack, no matter where it comes from; then be ready to counter when the time is right. "

Tooth nodded; willing her blush to go down and putting on a serious face.

"Good." he nodded back, his scythe reappearing in his hand as he got back in his ready stance. "Lets try that again."

And so this went on for hours; they would spar and every so often Geoff would point out a flaw in her form or stop the match to correct her stance.

It was obvious Geoff was taking it way easy on her; (in all honesty, she was grateful for that. Her swordsmanship had gotten a little rusty over the years) but Tooth was loving every second of it regardless.; the way he held her hands and moved them so softly, as if he was afraid to hurt her. How she could feel his warm breath on her neck as he spoke to her in a calm but commanding voice what needed to be done. It was the closest she'd ever been to him; well, when she wasn't dragging around his unconscious body, at least.

Jack, on the other hand; was not having such a great time. He had been sitting in the same spot for hours; which, mind you is hard enough as it is, being him and all. But on top of that, he just couldn't seem to get this right. The energy was there; he knew that much. He could feel it, but every time he tried to grab it, to reel it in; it would get away somehow. Like the name of your favorite movie thats just on the tip of your tongue.

Getting fed up, he let out a frustrated yell, grabbing both Geoff and Tooth's attention as he fell back on the ground. Geoff made his way over to him; leaning over Jacks face so that his head blocked out the sun.

"You called?" he said sarcastically.

"I can't do this! every time I try I feel like I'm getting further and further away from actually doing it! Plus I think my legs are getting cramped." he replied, ignoring Geoff's jab.

Geoff took a seat next to him.

"Well; uh, have you tried letting it come to you?" Geoff asked sagely.

Jack cracked open an eye. "Y'know, I didn't see you as the 'wise old hermit' type." He paused for a second; mulling over his words. "Well, maybe old, but not wise."

Geoff rolled his eyes. "Har har har. You still haven't answered my question, jizzhead."

Jack groaned as he sat up. "I don't know, okay? What does that even mean?" he asked.

"Let's see, ... how did it go..." Geoff tapped his chin; trying to put his thoughts into words before he spoke.

" Well, try thinking of harnessing your energy as going through a locked door. If you try to force your way in, like you're doing now; you won't make much leeway." He began.

"Stop thinking of your energy as an inanimate object to be controlled. Think of it as alive, like it has a mind of it's own; and to harness it, you have to let it make the first move. You have to wait for it to open the door for you."

Jack stared at him for a little bit.

"Okay, scratch the hermit part. Definitely a hippie. A crazy hippie"

Geoff smacked him upside the head.

"Shut up and try it again, dickhead."

"Aww," Jack gushed sarcastically. "Isn't that what you called Gavin at the office? I must really mean a lot to you if your calling me that name. I feel SO loved."

SMACK!

Tooth had an annoyed frown on her face after slapping the two childish spirits upside the head. However, it didn't last for long as she quickly shook out her hand, muttering little curses under her breathe.

"Jeez you two have some hard skulls!" she exclaimed.

The two of them rubbed their heads simultaneously.

"Ow! What was that for!?"

"For not getting on with it already! I want to get back to training with Geoff." she said, bringing a hand up to her mouth as she realized her minor slip up. She didn't want Geoff knowing about her infatuation with him yet. At this point it would just make things awkward between the two, and that was a distraction they didn't need. Thankfully, Geoff didn't seem to even ponder the implications of what she said.

But someone else did.

Jack rubbed his aching head, a mischievous smile on his face. "I'm sure you do." he said, his eyebrows dancing atop his forehead.

Tooth blushed hard at Jacks words, praying to Manny that Geoff didn't hear that either. Luckily for her everything seemed to be going over his head today.

Geoff sighed. "Just hurry the fuck up already, we don't have all day. I have other stuff planned for you guys; and the sun won't stay up for much longer."

As if to agree with Geoff, the sun dipped further in the sky, it's rays of light beginning to dim as it inched closer and closer to the horizon.

Jack let out a long breath, knowing full well that Geoff was right. Scooting his legs back into his meditation pose, he closed his eyes and did as he was told.

Darkness.

As he entered his mindscape, all he could see was empty darkness. Geoff probably would have jumped at the chance to crack a joke here; but for now he shook those thoughts out of his head. Right now he had to focus. He began to walk around; his feet stepping on nothingness, trying to find the energy that had been so elusive to him for the past few hours. It felt like it was so close, but no matter where he looked, no matter how far he walked, there was nothing.

He was beginning to give up, until he remembered Geoff's words. He felt for the energy again; and this time, he began to talk to it.

"Listen," he began, his words echoing out into the void of his mind. "I know you're there, and I know your listening." God he felt so stupid right now. But swallowing his pride, he continued.

"I need to get this down. If can't then-" he paused, letting out a sad sigh. "...Then how am I supposed to protect all the kids back in Burgess? Jamie, Sophie, and Cupcake-their all doomed If I don't get this right. I'm asking you now; pleading, please let me do this. I don't know what I would do if they-If something happened to-" Jack let out another shaky breath. How could he protect the ones he loved if he couldn't even do this? It was over. He might as well stop here.

Suddenly there was a bright flash of light behind him. He swerved around so quickly it would have given anybody else whiplash.

In front of him stood a tall set of double doors. They were a pure, snowy white with golden handles; popping out in great contrast to the pitch black room. He stepped closer. He couldn't believe his eyes. He had done it! He really did it! Taking another step he reached out his hand, tracing the icy pattern engraved into the door itself. It was the exact same pattern that appeared his staff when he held it, the same pattern that appeared when he froze over windows.

It was beautiful.

Preparing himself, he firmly grasped the door handle; readying himself for whatever lay on the other side of the door. He barely had to pull on it before it burst open, sending him skittering back on his ass. He watched as miniature flurry seemed to fly out and coat the walls in ice and the ground in snow; turning the once dark room a pristine white. He laughed. This was amazing! He could fell it; the warmth of fun that he brought to the children around the world. Truly It was amazing.

He smiled. He couldn't wait to see the looks on Tooth and Geoff's face.

Jack had been sitting their still as a rock for around five minutes now, and he hadn't moved an inch since he began. Geoff let out a groan for the third time in the last minute.

"I'm boooored!"

Tooth rolled her eyes but coudn't help the smile that came over her face.

"You didn't complain for the last two hours when he was doing this." she stated.

Geoff fell back onto the stony ground, causing Tooth to cringe when she heard the familiar sound of his skull making contact.

"Thats because we were actually doing something instead of sitting around... not doing something!" he whined.

"Uh huh." Tooth hummed unsympathetically. "Sure."

But she had to admit; it was boring just sitting here. She didn't want to seem rude, but shouldn't he have figured it out by now?

Suddenly a large gust of ice cold wind blew Tooth backwards; sending her tumbling head over heels away from where Jack sat. Geoff covered his face from the biting wind, his hair blowing wildly behind him; but otherwise he wasn't affected much at all. The wind seemed to die down a little bit, and Geoff lowered his arm. Snow flakes had began to fall steadily within about a ten foot radius of Jack's still meditating body; covering the cliff face in the powdery substance.

Jack's eyes snapped open and immediately found their way to Geoff's.

"I did it!" he exclaimed excitedly, before noticing they were short one Toothfairy. "Um... where's Tooth."

Jack heard a muffled 'Here' coming from where she was blown back. Jack looked over Geoff's shoulder to see Tooth lying in quite a comical position; her back against a nearby tree, her wings spread out to the side, and her rump hoisted unceramoniously in the air.

Jack and Geoff Burst out laughing as snow continued to fall on their heads, Tooth's face going red again for the umpteenth time that day. Managing to flip herself back over, she flew over to the two laughing spirits with a pouty look on her face.

When Geoff calmed down he gave Jack a swift pat on the back, nearly sending him toppling over himself.

"Nice job jizzhead. You actually managed to do it." he said, chuckles dying down.

Too happy to care about Geoff's new name for him, he sat back up and smiled.

"Yeah I'm pretty amazing aren't I?" he said rubbing the back of his head before looking at Tooth. "And mine's a lot stronger than Tooth's too."

Tooth rolled her eyes with a smirk.

"Woah, whoah, whoah; I woudn't say that." Geoff said waving his hands out in front of him.

Jack did a double take towards Geoff. "What!? Are you kidding me? Did you feel that."

Geoff nodded, getting up from his sitting position on the ground and dusting off the snow.

"Oh I sure as fuck did." He said, switching to dusting off his pant legs. "It was wild and uncontrolled. The only reason it had more of a kick than Tooth's was because she can fully control hers. If she had let her full power go when she demosntrated it to you, you would have met the same fate as she did." He began walking back to the spot where his duffel bag lay; the sun still making it's descent towards the horizon."But we'll worry about that later." he finished.

On the inside he was beaming though. It seems like not everything Burnie taught him was complete and utter bullshit after all. You just needed to find the right motivation to help yourself along.

Jack was speechless, his jaw hung open as if it were reaching towards the ground. Tooth stuck out her toungue as she crossed her arms, giving a victorious smirk afterwards.

Shaking himself out of his stupor, he noticed it was still snowing.

"Hey! Atleast tell me how to turn this thing off!" He shouted after Geoff.

Geoff waved off the question as he leaned over to unzip the duffel bag.

"Just close the door. That should do it just fine. After a little bit of practice though, you shouldn't have to worry about doing that anymore."

Doing as he said; Jack closed his eyes and went black to his snow covered mindscaped, quickly rushing over to the door before closing it swiftly.

Opening his eyes again, Jack noticed it had stopped snowing. Getting up off the ground and picking up his staff that lay beside him; Jack followed Tooth over to where Geoff was kneeled over his bag.

Tooth and Jack stood behind him, trying to get a better look at what he was doing. Without warning, he tossed something over his shoulders to each of them.

"Put these on." he said simply grabbing some of whatever it was for himself.

Jack looked down at what lay on the ground in front of him: a set of wrist and ankle weights and what looked like a bullet proof vest of some kind. He picked them up. They were all very lightweight, both a pale grey with their names sewn on the backs; his in a light blue.

Jack looked past his vest at Geoff who was just now getting his vest out of the bag.

Jack lifted his vest up. "Is this what you went to get?" he asked.

"Put it on." Geoff repeated plainly.

Tooth lifted hers up too, looking at her name sprawled on its back in colerful cursive; two slits on either side running from the bottom to the middle of her shoulder blades.

"What are these for exactl-" she said looking at Geoff who had pulled his shirt up and over his head; standing bare chested in the chilly air. He looked up to her.

Tooth took in his broad chest, as well as his muscled abs, tattoed arms, and shoulders. She could feel the heat rising up to her cheeks, and a tiny trickle of blood escape from her nose.

"I'll tell you in a second." he said, too focused on getting the equipment on to notice what state Tooth was in.

"Okay." she squeaked, pinching her nose as she rushed to get everything on.

Jack; who had opted to just put the vest on over his sweater, nudged her in the shoulder.

"What did I tell ya?" he whispered slyly; although Tooth didn't reply.

Once tooth had calmed down and everybody had gotten their gear on; Geoff began to speak.

"Okay, uh; what we are wearing now is training gear of my own design. These are woven from a special fabric with magical properties. Their weight can be increased as much as needed by the user, but it depends on how well you can control their magic. For today, I will be setting your weights for you. You will learn how to do so on a later date. Which reminds me," he said holding out his hands. "You two; toss me your weapons."

Tooth complied immediately; pulling her swords out of their scabbards and handing them to Geoff. Jack on the other hand was a little more hesitant on handing over his staff. After all he hadn't had the best experience with 'loaning' his staff to someone else'.

Geoff waited patiently, knowing exactly why the winter spirit was so hesitant. He decided to give him a little more of a push.

"Come on; I won't break it. Look; if you let me do this I'll show you a way to prevent it from being broken again." He said temptingly.

Jack was torn. He knew he could trust him, but every part of his body was telling him no. Finally, he gave in and handed him his staff.

Geoff nodded,giving a look that promised that he would be as careful as he could.

Taking out a brush and ink from his bag, he painted a symbol on the bottom of Jack's staff and on the handles of Tooth's swords. The ink dissapeared almost instantly. Geoff handed back their items; Jack grabbing it almost too eagerly, checking it over from top to bottom.

"What did you do?" he asked not seeing anything different with his staff at first glance.

"You'll see." he said mischeiviously, with a wicked grin.

Suddenly, It felt as gravity itself was trying to pull him in for a hug. He lurched foreward barely able to keep himself from falling. Out of the corner of his eye, Jack could see tooth was having the same problem; alternating from standing and using her wings to try and keep herself upright.

"Right now;" Geoff began."Every item you are wearing ways 600 lbs, your weapons: 300 lbs; that's 150 lbs for each one of Tooth's swords. Tonight we will be going on a little jog through the mountains; and we will continue to do so everyday throuout the week. You're lucky; today is only thursday. You will get breaks on the weekend where you can rest and relax until the beginning of the next week. If I am not here to supervise you, then Joel or someone else will be here to do so."

Jack tried to stand up straight; sucking in another strained breath. As spirits, their bodies were more durable; able to lift weights and move at speeds impossible for the average human. Even so; this amount of weight was considered a lot, even for members of the Guardians. Then again, they've never really had to train for anythoing so important before.

Jack lurched again, feeling light headed. "ARE YOU CRAZY!" he shouted in between breaths. "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US!?"

Geoff willed his scythe to come out before activated his own weights; lurching forward a little as well.

"Stop your whining." he grunted. "At the level you're at now, even as Guardians; you won't stand a chance against the big dogs that are out there. Besides, I'm carrying more weight than both of you combined."

Jack's eyes widened. More than both of them combined?! And he was hardly breaking a sweat! He wasn't crazy, he was insane!

Geoff swung his scythe over his shoulders and nodded his head off into the distance.

"C'mon; It'll be just like a walk in the park."

It was absolutely NOT a walk in the park.

Immediately after Geoff had said those words he was already gone from Tooth's sight; taking off in a light jog down the mountain they were on. Tooth and Jack just managed to drag their feet off in the direction he went.

They jogged (If you could call walking at a reasonably fast pace 'jogging') until the the sun had sunk below the horizon and the moon had risen halfway into the sky; going up and down the steep faces of the mountains. Meanwhile while they were slowly dying, Geoff was breezing through the exercise; dodging the occasional tree and stopping to jog in place when they needed to catch up. They must have covered every inch of every mountain within a 5 mile radius before they finally circled around back to the spot where their hellish endevour had begun.

When Geoff released their weights the two spirits collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath as they desperately removed those torture devices from their bodies. After they had, they lay limp and sputtering for air in the cold night air; the harsh winds biting at Tooth's face; although she was too tired to care.

Geoff released his own weights; hopping around on his toes for a little while as he let out a a short adrenaline filled yell.

"Wooh! Nothing like a light jog to get the blood flowing; huh ladies?"

"Light!?" Tooth exclaimed from her spot on the ground. "You call THAT light? I think I broke my everything." she groaned.

"Same here." Jack moaned.

Geoff rolled his eyes; takig off his weights and gathering theirs to put back in the bag. "C'mon, get up. Let's head inside." he said as he put on his shirt and hoodie.

Jack lazily shook his head, still trying to cath his breath. "I can't. I'm pretty sure my legs comitted suicide when we went over that third mountain."

Geoff sighed as he picked up the duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder. He walked over to the entrance of the palace; placing his thumb and index finger in his mouth and letting out a quick, high pitched whistle; catching the attention of a few mini fairies that were flying close by.

"Hey, can you come her real quick?" He asked.

The fairies seemed a little flustered, looking every which way as if to see if there was someone else he could be talking to; before giving up and pointing to themselves in a quizzical manner.

Geoff rolled his eyes with a small smile. "Yes you! Now hurry up and get the fuck over here."

The fairies pushed in shoved eachother as they hurried over to him in a cloud of excited squeeks and chirps; stopping only inches from his face, eagerly awaiting what he had to say.

Geoff pointed over his shoulder; the fairies followed with their eyes, looking off in the same direction at the two Guardians lying in a pathetic heap on the ground.

"Carry them for me."

The fairies let out dissappointed sighs as they floated over to their master and Jack's body; squeeking out a countdown before lifting their battered bodies off of the ground.

The strange fairy from earlier snuck around corridor; hopping from shadow to shadow as the sun sank lower towards the horizon. During the night was the only time she felt safe; when she could roam freely throughout the palace without fear of being seen.

She had watched as one of the other Guardians; Jack Frost she believed, came flying down the hall led by Baby Tooth. He entered the room, and for while there was silence. Then out of nowhere she heard a loud shout; making her back further up into the shadows.

She waited, heart thumping; hearing a bits and pieces of their muffled conversation through the wall. Suddenly there was a flash of red from under the door, then; silence. She was about to go check in the room when the door burst open and Jack flew back out down the hallway. Curious as to what his rush was, she followed him.

When she caught up to him again, he was standing outside with her creator and Geoff. She watched through a high up window, not wanting to take a chance at being spotted, as they talked for a while. Most of which she zoned out for, focusing mostly on the Grim Reaper as he waved his hands here and there, explaining who knows what to the two spirits in front of him.

She continued to watch him for hours, letting out tiny little sighs as he effortly fought against Tooth; although she couldn't help feeling a little bit of jeolousy every time he got close to her creator. The way he held her so gently and whispered softly into her ears made her wish they could switch places; if only just for a second. Hell, she could see her shuddering from all the way back here. She shook the selfish thoughts from her head; reluctantly averting her attention towards the frustrated winter spirit who she guessed; by his irritated growl, was fed up from doing whatever he was doing.

She watched as both words and hits were exchanged between the three spirits before Jack closed his eyes and seemed to drift off into some kind of meditative state. Not five minutes later, Tooth seemed to have been blasted back by some invisible force (which, admittedly, managed to get a few squeaky chortles out of her) as it started to snow in the small area around the spirits; the winter spirit shouting ecstatically about something she couldn't hear. Geoff seamed to utter something to deflated the Guardians mood before walking over to a bag that lay a short distance away from where they were sitting.

He pulled out something from the duffel bag and tossed it to the two other Guardians before taking out something for himself. The tiny fairy squinted, trying to get a better look at what they were holding, managing to catch a glimpse of a vest of some sort with words embroidered on the backs. Her face scrunched up. What were those for? She turned her attention back to Geoff and felt what little color was there drain from her face. From her spot in the window she could just make out the half naked body of Geoff as he pulled his shirt and hoodie over his head. Her world started to spin as she fell unconscious, body laying limply on the sill of the window. A goofy smile spread across her face as she slipped off into darkness.

When she came to, the moon was beginning its ascent into the sky; casting a blue light over her dark feathers through the window. She immediately snapped to attention; rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she looked out the window. The the Guardians had disappeared from their previous spot, duffel bag and all. How long had she been out? Her eyes widened in realization as her tiny Palm made contact with her forehead. She was such an idiot! What if she had been seen? What would have happened if SHE had found her asleep like that? She shuddered to think of it. Acting quickly; she did a swift scan of the surrounding area to make sure the coast was clear. The last thing she needed was running into any familiar faces this late at night. Sure; it was the only time she could move around freely, but if she were too be seen by a member of the night patrol, there wouldn't be anyone there to help her. Baby Tooth, the only fairy not afraid to be seen around her, and her only friend, worked the day shift; which meant she was most likely asleep by now. That also meant she wouldn't be here to help her if _THEY_ managed to catch her.

_SHE_ had made sure of that.

The miniature fairy mad a swift dash from her spot on the window sill, speeding down through the shadows cast by the moon to escape to a more secluded part of the palace; unaware of a set of mischievous pink eyes watching her from below.

Tania had been the proud overseer of the night patrol for only a short two years; but she took every chance she could to remind those below her of her power. She didn't care whether or not the other fairies liked her or not, as long as they knew their place and showed her the respect she deserved. Those who... 'forgot' their place, were swiftly and painfully reminded with extreme prejudice.

No one dare speak up to Tooth in fear of the consequences that awaited them afterwards, and rightly so. She had made a name for herself in punishing those who opposed her however she saw fit. Any and all attempts to tell Tooth were immediately stopped, and the offenders: subdued. She was only spoken about in hushed tones or not at all; in fear that she or one of her lackeys were listening in.

Then there were those, who despite all this, would still try to openly overthrow her reign of power and convince others to join their cause; those like Baby Tooth. She was frustrating to deal with, because no matter how many times she was beaten or put down, she would always get back up again. Her resilience would have been applaudable, if not for the fact it gave Tania a huge headache whenever she had to deal with her. But even someone like BT was too afraid to tell their master what was really going on behind the scenes.

But as stated before, it hadn't always been like this. Tania used to be In charge of counting teeth; but the job wasn't as gratifying as it sounded; so, after centuries of doing the same thing, she grew bored of it. Then one day; almost two years ago, everything changed. Pitch came in and raided the palace, taking every single tooth that they had along with the fairies. Seeing this as her chance to make something good out of a bad situation; she tried to convinced many of the other fairies that the current leader of the night patrol at that time was actually a spy sent by Pitch Black so he could steal the teeth. At first the fairies didn't believe her, after all that fairy had been one of the first to be created by Tooth. But after they escaped, that seed of doubt began to to take over their tiny minds. The fact that she had black feathers only helped reinforce her claim. They lashed out at her and drove her off in a fit of blind fear. In all honesty she deserved it. She wasn't fit for that high of a position; she was too humble, too meek and too shy. A position of that power suited herself better; someone stronger.

But as always Baby Tooth had to be miss goody two shoes and try to ruin her fun. She brought most of the fairies to their senses and convinced them that it was all a big lie. But at that point it was already too late; the damage had been done. The shy fairy; Tatiana, had been traumatized and was too scared to come out of hiding. The only fairy she trusted anymore was the only one that didn't turn against her after the attack by Pitch: Baby Tooth. Meanwhile; with the former leader of the night patrol gone, Toothiana was forced to choose a new fairy to take her place; and the rest is history. Tania gathered the handful of fairies who still believed her lie and they became the new night patrol. If Tatiana was spotted by one of them, they had Tania's permission to do whatever they pleased to her. Anyone caught speaking to Tatiana was likely to suffer the same fate.

Which brought her back to the present. She was just about to head out for the second round of the night shift; (apparently Toothiana wouldn't be joining them tonight; which, honestly, she couldn't care less about) when out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of movement. It was a tiny black speck flying from one of the upper windows to the ground level. Her eyes narrowed; It was that annoying little bitch again. Didn't she tell her to leave the palace for good? If Toothiana saw her It would ruin everything! A wicked smile appeared on her face. She guessed she'd have to teach her yet another lesson.

Tatiana snuck by yet another group of fairies; sticking to the shadows the whole way. Suddenly, a large foot stomped down not two feet in front of her. She pressed herself closer to the wall; letting her feathers blend into the darkness, almost seeming to become one with the shadows. She looked up to see the giant foot that nearly crushed her belonged to none other than Geoff Ramsey. Behind him were a nearly unconscious Jack and Tooth being carried by a small cloud of fairies. She watched silently as they made their way into the arcade room; Tooth's pride and joy. She heard Geoff casually say "put 'em down here" followed by the sound of couch cushions deflating. She ducked further into the shadows as the group of fairies flew back out and down the hallway. After the sound of beating wings faded, she cautiously made her way towards the light of the doorway despite every fiber of her being telling her not to. One little look wouldn't hurt, would it?

She peeked in through the open doorway, squinting a little at the bright light. Past the rows of video game cabinets she could see Jacks legs hanging precariously off the side of the couch while Tooth seemed to be laying upside-down; if her legs sticking straight into the sky were anything to go by. Meanwhile, Geoff had taken a seat on one of the beanbags. She could practically feel his muscles relaxing as she watched him sink carefully into his seat; turning on the X-BOX 360 and grabbing a controller.

She shook her head; she cold gawk later, right now she needed to get to a safer place before she was spotted. Making sure to be extra quiet, she slowly backed away from the light. Not seeing anyone nearby, she thought it safe to fly the rest of the way, opening her wings and darting down the hallway.

She almost made it around the corner before she was tackled from behind. She struggled for a minute; managing to land a few solid blows before her arms were pinned above her head. She had been so foolish! Why'd she stop instead of listening to her gut? Opening her eyes to look at her capturer she felt her heart sink. On top of her, straddling her waist was the person she hated most in this world; the person who had ruined her life.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my old friend Tatiana. How have things been?" Tania said wickedly in the fairy's' squeaky language; five more of her lackeys approaching from behind her, creating a circle around their leader.

Tatiana struggled a little more, trying to shake the other fairy off of her. "Get off!" She muttered in between each desperate spasm.

Switching both of Tatiana's arms over to one hand, Tania brought the other down across her face; creating a small red mark where it made contact.

She brought the hand in front of her face; sucking on her teeth as she wagged her finger in front of Tatiana's face. "Now, now; that wasn't very polite. Are we gonna have to teach you some manners?" The other fairies chuckled, finding pleasure in her pain.

Tatiana didn't say anything; averting her gaze away from Tiana's as tears began to well up in her eyes from the pain.

Tania smiled. "Good. There was something else I wanted to talk to you about anyway." She said wickedly; the other fairies closing in around them.

Tatiana remained silent, so she continued. "I thought I told you after our last talk that I didn't want to see your face around this place again, huh? I told you to leave and never come back. Didn't I, girls?" She asked, turning to face her lackeys.

The other fairies nodded, smiles spreading farther across their faces.

"That's what I thought. So, the question is:" she said facing her again. "Why are you still here?"

When Tatiana didn't answer her immediately she brought another hand down across her face.

"Answer me!" She growled.

Tatiana sent a wad of spit hurtling into her eye, using this as a distraction to wriggle free from her grasp and dart down the hallway. She didn't make it far, however; as one of the other fairies tackled her and pinned her down yet again.

Tania rubbed the saliva from her eyes as she walked over to where Tatiana now lay; on the verge of crying as she struggled to get free.

"Big mistake." She growled, landing a swift but solid kick to her side; relishing in the sound of one of her ribs cracking.

"Girls," she began; the other fairies looking up at her like mindless dogs waiting for their next order. "Take out the trash."

If possible their smiles seemed to grow even larger. "With pleasure." The one holding her down hissed.

The last thing she saw of Tania was her back as she flew back down the hallway; before the bodies of the other fairies closing in obscured her view. She braced herself for the pain she knew would come next.

They laid into her, punching and kicking like there was no tomorrow; aiming for any open spot they could see. She coughed up blood as one of their fists connected like a hammer to her chest; her bones creaked and groaned as she tried pointlessly to protect herself. By now her vision had begun to blur; whether it was from the pain or the tears she didn't now. All she wanted was for it to be over quick; for them to get bored or leave her alone so she could just crawl into a corner and die. What had she done to deserve this? What had she done wrong?

Suddenly, as if her prayers had been answered, the rain of blows stopped; only for her dreams to be crushed as she was flipped over onto her front, a pressure now placed on her upper back. One of the fairies had grabbed a hold of her wings; a foot placed solidly in between her shoulder blades. She tried to beg for them to stop but her pleads only came out as sputters as she spat out blood from her mouth. The pressure seemed to increase ten fold as the fairy pulled harder; her friends egging her on. Suddenly there was a loud painful pop as her wings were yanked out of their sockets; falling limply onto her back. She let out a loud scream; her pitiful cries for help going unanswered as she continued to choke on her own blood. Feeling that their job was complete; the fairies wiped their hands clean before flying off to join their leader on the night shift.

Tatiana lay their limply; quietly sobbing as the pain became too much for her. The last thing she heard before she succumb to sweet nothingness was the sound of giant footsteps making their way over to her.

Geoff sat down in the comfy bean bag chair; letting out a sigh as his body sank back into the soft, smooth material. He reached over to his right and turned on Tooth's X-BOX 360; grabbing a controller for himself as the large TV began to start up. He looked over at the pile of sadness that was Tooth and Jack; picking up another controller and waving it in front of their face.

"I'm gonna start up a game of Halo. You guys want in?"

Both Guardians moaned from their spot on the couch; not moving an inch from where the mini fairies had dumped them.

"No thanks." Jack mumbled. "I don't even think I can move my arms."

"Same here." Tooth groaned.

Geoff rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I guess I'll just , uh, start up an online game then."

Suddenly, a loud growl reverberated off of the walls of the room.

"-After I get some munchies." He continued; standing up from his seat and walking towards the door.

"Kitchen's down the hall to the left."

"Thanks Tooth." Geoff droned as he made his way to the door.

As he neared the door, his ears picked up the sound of a high pitched squeal. Speeding up a little; he made his way out the door in time to see a small group of fairies speed of down another hallway. He turned his head back towards where they came from; his eyes nearly missing a dark lump lying in the shadows. Squinting, he began to step closer; eyes adjusting to the dark and allowing him to make out the shape of one of Tooth's mini fairies lying motionless on the ground. He jogged over to the downed fairy, gently kneeling down besides it with a look of horror on his face.

"Jesus H. Christ..." He muttered under his breath. The fairy looked horrible; her body covered in tiny cuts and bruises. Looking at her wings he could tell that they were definitely dislocated by the way they hung uselessly off her back. Thinking quickly, he channeled some of his magic into the tips of his fingers; gently pressing them up to the fairies body.

As he let the healing spell do it's job; he took the chance to really look at the fairy. She was unlike anything he had seen before; her feathers were a beautiful black, almost the same color as the night sky. Instead of the routine yellow feather on top of her it's head, there was a vibrant red one, and there was a dark purple pigmentation around her tightly clenched eyes.

The spell was almost done doing its job; all of the wounds healed except a few cuts around the face and the dislocated wings. He let out a sigh; magic wasn't exactly his forte, it was more Ray's thing. If he was here, the fairy would have been up and running again; perfectly healed and back in tip top shape. He frowned as looked over, the fairies face; twisted up in a look of pain. Who could have done such a thing? There was a sickening noise as one of the wings popped back into its socket, closely followed by the other one. The fairies eyes snapped open; apparently awakened by the sudden pain. It sat up and check itself over for a while in confusion, realizing that all of its injuries had been healed; looking back as it gave a few flaps of its wings. Geoff didn't move a muscle; waiting to be notice by the strange fairy. He cleared his throat; startling the fairy and causing it dart up from its place on the ground in a panic. It stayed in the air for a second before its head began to spin, falling like a brick towards the ground.

Before the fairy could hit the ground, however; Geoff caught it gently in his hands, pulling it closer towards him.

"Woah there kiddo, It's just me." He whispered to the disoriented fairy. "I used a healing spell on you, so you may experience some dizziness. Your must be pretty fucking tough you know; what the hell happened to you?"

Tatiana shook her head vigorously; trying to rid herself of the spots and stars that plagued her vision. Once she was satisfied she wouldn't fall down again, she carefully got up on her feet; dusting herself off with a frown before looking up at her savior. What she saw nearly caused her to fall unconscious again. Holding her a mere six inches from his face was Geoff Ramsey in all his glory; his blue eyes sparkling even in the dim light.

"Calm down, I'm not gonna hurt you. My names Geoff. Don't let the face fool you, I'm not that scary." He joked, trying to reassure the tiny fairy when he noticed her breathing increase; even though it was for the wrong reasons. "What's your name."

Calming her breathing, Tatiana blushed, suddenly finding something very interesting about the floor. She tried to find the courage to speak but couldn't bring her voice above the whisper; even then her voice only came out as a tiny squeak. Geoff smacked the palm of one of his hands against his head, muttering about his stupidity under his breath.

"Duh, can't understand you. Hold on a sec." He said, snapping his fingers with a burst of red magic, sparks flying off and raining down on top of the small fairy. "That should do it. I think. Here, try again." Geoff egged her on.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Tatiana tried again.

"M-my name is Ta-Tatiana." She barely managed to get out before she threw her hands over her mouth in surprise. Had she just spoken? In English no less! All of Tooth's fairies communicated in their own language using a variety of chirps and squeaks, with no voice or sense of pitch or tone to set them apart; it was more like sign language with your mouth, each chirp or squeak had its own meaning. In fact; besides herself, Tania and BT, the rest were so cookie cutter that it was almost impossible to differentiate them; speaking or not. In fact, she often wondered how their creator seemed to do it with such ease.

She began to test her new voice saying a few words under her breath to get a feel for it. It was sort of soft and tomboyish like a teenagers', something that definitely surprised her a little. (Think Ellie from _The Last of Us_).

"Tatiana, huh?" Geoff said with a bit of mirth; apparently pleased with the fairies surprise. "Great to meetcha. Nice name by the way."

She blushed at his compliment; finally looking up at Geoff's face, a look of befuddlement on her face.

"H-how did you do that?" She asked, surprised at her own lack of shyness in this situation. Before today she couldn't have even imagined being this close to Geoff, let alone talk to him; but so fare she was doing better than she could have ever expected.

"Oh; you mean the translation spell? My friend taught it to me. Comes in handy when you visit places that don't speak English. Or human for that matter."

Tatiana nodded shyly, going back to staring at the floor.

"So Tatiana," Geoff began; causing the fairy to shudder at the way it sounded coming from his lips. "When I found you you were pretty banged up. What happened?"

The fairy in question stiffened, freezing up like a burglar caught red handed. Despite the cold she began to sweat; mulling over whether she should reveal her past to him or not. What if one of Tania's fairies was nearby and she heard her? What if they found out and they got to her before she could get away? All of these what ifs were making so hard to think! But a part of her mind was screaming at her to spill every last secret about Tania; all those years of torment and hatred towards, her the frequent beatings; all in hope that he could somehow help. He was the famed Grim Reaper after all. Surely he could do _something_! Finally giving in she began to recount all of her plights starting from that day two years ago during Pitch's raid when her whole life changed.

With every second Geoff listened, he became more and more livid. How could the other fairy's just let this happen if they knew what was going on?! Why had no one put a stop to this evil bitch's tyranny? Most of all; why had nobody told Tooth? Just spilled the beans about Tania's plan? But based on Tatiana's morbid description of the punishments they had to endure, they didn't have much of a choice. This fairy Tania was brutal; she had no regards for the feelings of other fairies and would torture them mercilessly. Suddenly his brain began to connect the dots in his head; and his frown only seemed to deepen.

"Tatiana, those fairies I saw fly away earlier; were they-?"

The small fairy nodded sadly; knowing what he was gonna ask.

Geoff's brows furrowed further, his grimace turning into a sad frown. He cursed his luck; if he could have just gotten there _sooner-. _He shook his head; knowing that he couldn't blame himself for that. He had no idea what was going on.

But it was about time someone else found out.

Geoff stood up, startling Tatiana as he turned around and made his way back to the game room.

"W-where are you going?" She asked worriedly; hoping against all hope that he wasn't doing what she thoght he was doing.

"We're going to tell Tooth. It's time she finds out whats been going on."

Tatiana let out a frightened yelp; flying out of Geoff's hands and grabbing onto his fingers as she tried to pull him back down the hallway.

"No! You can't!" she whispered loudly.

Geoff stopped; looking back at the fairy with a questioning glance. "Why the fuck not?" he asked impatiently. Didn't she want this to end? Didn't she want all this pain and torment to be over? To not have to sneak around her own home at night just so she wouldn't be seen? If she really wanted this to be over, this was the only way.

Meanwhile Tatiana was asking herself the same questions. Why had she stopped him? It could all end here! All the beatings and torment would cease; Tania and her stupid fairies would be taught a lesson! She could get her life back! So why? Why had she stopped him?

Deep down she knew the answer. It was fear. Fear of what could happen if Tooth DIDN'T believe her. Fear of the punishment that would follow after. How PATHETIC.

"Um... she's asleep! I don't want to wake her." she said in a pitiful attempt at a lie. She gave a forced chuckle. "She needs her rest, so why don't we just wait until morning? We can tell her then!" What the fuck was she saying! Go tell her now!

Geoff let out a forced sigh as he faced the small fairy. "Tatiana," he began, running his fingers through his hair. "You can't live in fear for the rest of your life. Sooner or later Tooth needs to find out; and if you don't tell her, you can bet your ass I will. I won't let you live the rest of your life like this; afraid of that little bitch Titface, or whatever the hell her name is." this earned a small nod and a smile from Tatiana. He smiled back, causing her to blush and avert her eyes again. "Alright then. First thing tomorrow we're telling Tooth. No if, ands or buts about it. Capiche?" Tatiana's smile dropped; replaced with an unsure frown. But nevertheless she nodded, knowing Geoff was right.

"Good, now lets-" suddenly Geoff's ringtone blared from his pocket.

"WET CUNTS!"

Tatiana blushed heavily as Geoff frantically reached for his pocket, hoping that he hadn't woken up the two Guardians sleeping in the room down the hall.

"Shit!" he cursed as he pulled out the phone; looking at the caller ID that read 'Burnie'. He pressed answer and put the phone up to his ear.

"Burnie? What's up?" he greeted.

"Hey asshole, get your butt over to North's workshop. We've got our first candidate for a Guardian."

Geoff looked down at Tatiana as he put the phone on mute. "It's my boss, Burnie. He wants me to head over to North's. Said we've got our first candidate for a Guardian."

"Oh." Tatiana said disappointedly. "I guess that means you have to go then." She mumbled; overcome with sadness at the news of Geoff's departure. Atleast it was nice while it lasted.

Geoff looked at the fairies downcast face. Was he really going to leave her here after everything he learned? Just leave her to hide away alone while he left to some far away world? Then an imaginary light bulb popped up over his head.

"Hey Tia," She blushed at his nickname for her. "Your not to busy are you?"

She shook her head, not exactly seeing where he was going with this.

"Good. Then you wouldn't mind coming along with me then?"

Tatiana's eyes opened up wide. "R-really?"

Geoff nodded. Her arms shot up in excitement as she let out a happy squeak; flying up to Geoff and wrapping her tiny arms around his head in a hug. Gasping, she quickly backed away from the Grim Reaper; trying not to show her embarrassment.

"*ahem* I-i mean...thank you."

Geoff smiled, before realizing that he still had Burnie on hold. He raised the phone up to see if he was still connected.

"HEY ASSHOLE! ANSWER ME! WHERE THE FUCK'D YOU GO!"

Yep, he was still there.

He cringed as he unmuted the phone. "Yeah I'm still her Burnie"

"Good." He replied. "As I was saying, for this one your gonna need your band of dickheads. Got any questions before you get your ass over here?"

Geoff thought for a little while. "Yeah, I got one. Where exactly am I going that I'm gonna need those 'assholes'?"

Tatiana watched as Geoff listened to Burnie over the phone. Suddenly, a wide smile made its way across his face.

"Alright then, I'll see you there." he said before hanging up the phone. After doing so, he began to dial a new number into his phone before raising it back up to his ear.

"We'll head out in a minute okay? I just need to contact some people first."

Tatiana nodded; listening in on Geoff's conversation as the person on the other line seemed to pick up.

"Gavin? Yeah, It's me. Are the other cunts there with you?" He paused. "Good, I need you to tell them something."

Gavin had gotten back to work immediately after Geoff left the room; but it didn't take long for the gentle hum of his monitor to lull him back to sleep. Spending over fifteen hours editing video's had taken a lot out of him; even more than one of Geoff's hellish workouts. After a long night of working, it was satisfying to get some nice, relaxing, uninterrupted-

"GAVIN YOU LAZY FUCK! WAKE YOUR ASS UP!"

Gavin spasmed; falling out of his seat with a high pitched squawk. He groggily removed his face from the carpet; rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He frowned as he heard Michael's laughter from behind his chair.

"Bloody hell! What is it?" Gavin asked, standing up from the floor.

Michael wiped a fake tear from his eye. "It's time to get to work. We gotta film another Lets Play."

Gavin stretched, listening to the satisfying crack of his spine as it popped back into place.

"Yeah, yeah; I'm on it." he said, setting his chair back upright. Suddenly; he felt the buzzing of his phone as it rang in his pocket. Jack removed his headphones and pushed himself away from his desk; turning to Gavin.

"Let's go Gavin. What are you waiting for?" He asked impatiently.

"Hold your horses;" he retorted as he reached for his pocket. "Someone's calling me."

"Are the 'calling' you, or 'cooling' you?" Ryan chimed in.

Gavin stuck out his tongue at Ryan as he pulled out his phone.

"It's Geoff." He said as he pressed the answer button. "Geoff?" He asked. "Yeah there here with me-"

"What does he want!?" Ray yelled out from his seat.

Gavin rolled his eyes, pulling the phone away from his mouth. "If you'd shut your gob for a few seconds then I'll tell you!" He turned back to his phone. "What is it you want me to tell them?" He paused for a second; eyes widening. "Y-yeah, I can tell them." Gavin spoke hanging up the phone. He was literally shaking in excitement.

"We'll, what did he want?" Ray asked, not liking being left out of the loop.

Gavin smiled wildly.

"He said we're getting the band back together!"

Loud footsteps echoed down the halls as a blonde figure shouted at the top of her lungs.

"THEY'RE COMING THEY'RE COMING THEY'RE COMING THEY'RE COMING THEY'RE COMING!" She yelled as she screamed past the many doors in the hallway; annoying many of their tenants.

"They're coming, they're coming, they're coming!" The figure threw open one of the doors near the end of the hallway.

"THEY'RE COMING!" She screamed yet again; scaring the living day lights out of the other three girls in the room.

After calming down, one of the three girls; a girl with long white hair, gave the blonde haired girl a firm glare.

"Yang?! What is it? Who's coming?!"

The girl, now identified as Yang, let out an excited squeal; holding up a small glossy sheet of paper.

"THE ACHIEVEMEN!"

**Jeez! Has it really been that long since I last updated?**

**Sorry to you guys who actually read this! I've been really busy with testing and other stuff at school. I just finished up typing this on my phone at my grandpas house in Philadelphia (we don't have any wi-if so I'm using 3G), so apologies if there are some mistakes. I'll be doing revisions later; but hopefully the fact that it's twice as long as the other chapters makes up for all that. But hey! We've introduced a new character to the story! And it seems like she might also harbor some feelings for our friendly neighborhood Grim Reaper!**

**For those who haven't figured it out yet; our first Guardian will be coming from the World of Remnant, AKA RWBY. Which means we finally got past the set up for the story! From now on, this is how it will work: the story will be split up into arcs depending on what world they're visiting. In-between some chapters there will be little fun short stories to show how the Guardians; as well as their new recruits, act when they're not training or saving the world.**

**Anyways, thanks to those who read my story; and I'll see you next chapter!**


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